Under the Surface
by eternal1990
Summary: What if Maria Robotnik managed to escape death. As she struggles to adjust. She finds that some things are not what they appear to be. All the while a dark presence hides under the surface. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

Hello Fanfiction eternal1990 here. I decided to post my first Sonic fanfiction on this sight.

The best way to describe what I am writing is the what if sort of thing. The best way to describe that is what could have happened that never did or what you would want to happen.

This what if story revolves around Maria Robotnik. and what if she returned. I didn't want to do transformations or anything cause I feel it's been done many times and I wanted to try something different.

This is a very dark story. It's going to involve some of the characters from the comics. But it still will take place in the game universe.

Mephiles is in the story also. He actually has a rather large role. I actually wanted to give him more background since he is one of my favorite sonic characters if not my all time favorite. I mean he killed Sonic. Eggman never did that and I doubt he will.

Either way here's the first chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic characters that may appear in this story. They are either owned by Sega or Archie Comics. I do own a stuffed Knuckles doll that is almost 3 feet tall.

Here we go.

A pair of blue eyes fluttered open as a small human came to find herself standing in the vast grayness. She had no idea why she was here or how she had come to such a place.

Mere minutes ago, Maria Robotnik had been at the controls sending Shadow the Hedgehog to Earth.

A mysterious group of cloaked figures had invaded her grandfather's colony killing everyone on board. Maria herself had been one of the casualties.

Bleeding to death, she used the last of her strength to send Shadow to the safety of the planet Earth. With a promise that he would bring peace and happiness to all who lived there.

Now she found herself in some sort of gray limbo. Was she still alive? Was she dead? She didn't know.

Maria pulled herself off the ground as she found herself walking around. Some sort of wind seemed to be blowing amongst her. How that was a apparent she didn't know.

People seemed to be walking around her. She tried to stop one of them to ask where she was but they seemed to pass her by as if they were a leaf floating down an empty street at the end of fall.

"What is this place…I wonder if Grandfather or Shadow are here to." The small girl thought to herself.

Maria suddenly saw two path on each side in the distance.

The first side was filled with a bright light. It seemed so warm and bright. Maria justed wanted to run there firmly believing that the light was the warm sunshine she always had longed for.

On the other side there was nothing but darkness only a blood red taint of light seemed to dimly glow in the black.

The young girls heart beat fast with fear.

"Do the two roads mean Heaven and Hell?"

Maria looked at the warm light again. She started to walk in that direction but the closer she thought she was getting to the light it seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

Maria finally gave up going in that direction. She couldn't believe she was destined to spend the rest of eternity in the underworld. How, she never did anything wrong. Or did she?

"Could I have done something to be denied the warm sunshine I've always wanted?"

Maria sighed sadly as she walked in the direction of the darkness.

However, as she walked closer to the darkness it seemed to stretch farther away from her.

What was going on? Was she being denied to both domains of eternity. Was she destined to spend the rest of eternity wondering in this gray emptiness.

Sudden the world around her shifted to a world of all black.

Maria looked at the two ends to see the light and the dark remained.

"Hey…I want to know exactly where I am." Maria called out for anyone to her.

Suddenly a small light appeared off in the distance. From the light a figure began to take shape.

Maria began to walk closer wanting to get a better look at the figure.

As she got closer she saw what appeared to a hedgehog.

"Shadow…oh Shadow it's you…I was so worried I never was going to…"

Maria stopped in her tracks when so got a better look at the hedgehog.

"Your not Shadow…but you look exactly like him"

Indeed it wasn't Shadow. The hedgehog looked almost identical to her friend. But, this hedgehog's fur was a faded black. The tips of his quills and streaks along his arms and legs were a faded teal. His muzzle was so pale with no mouth at all. While Shadow had fiery red eyes. This creature had a dark green eyes that were slits almost like that of a snake's.

Maria stared at the hedgehog for the longest time with innocence and fear.

The hedgehog stared back at her with complete interest. The hedgehog didn't have a mouth and didn't blink. So the girl had no idea what the hedgehog in front of her was thinking.

"I wish I knew where I was." Maria thought aloud to herself.

"You are in a realm into between worlds." A low smooth yet slighty rustic voice seemed to answer.

Maria jumped at the sound of the voice. Where was it coming from. It couldn't have come from that hedgehog could it?

Maria stared at the hedgehog again.

"Did you speak to me?" Maria asked politely.

"Yes I was the one who answered your question. You are in between worlds. The world of the living and the world of the dead."

"Am I dead?"

:"Yes you are dead."

"Then why am I not in the realm of the dead?"

"Your soul is in turmoil and has unfinished things it wants to tend to. It is worried that some things may not be right and will not be at peace. And so those souls wander between realms…forever."

"So I can't go to either realm."

"No."

"But…why… Why can't I be at peace."

"Did you notice at the two sides that you looked off towards the light?"

"Yes…"

"That light represents the realm of living. It reminded you of the sunshine that you've always wished to shine down upon you. You never got your wish. You lived in the darkness of your Grandfather's colony because of an incurable illness. And you died in the most vile way possible."

Maria remembered. "Those cloaked figures. Who were they and what did they want?"

"They were a group that call themselves The Dark Legion. They had come after Shadow for his power and they killed everyone so nobody would know they were there. GUN was left to believe that your precious Shadow was responsible."

"That's a lie. Shadow's innocent. I sent him to Earth. Right before I came here."

"Who is going to believe it. No one is left alive and GUN saw nothing. By the time they got there it was far too late."

Maria lowered her head as she thought about the horrific incident when a dark green light seemed to surround her.

"What's going on?" She cried frightened.

"Your being called back to the realm of living. You won't remember anything of your life or what happened when you leave here."

"No I don't want to forget I wanna remember."

"It's all said and done you will return and everything you've known will be blank . You won't even remember Shadow."

"No please…I can't…you have to help me…I'll do anything."

"You'll do anything?" The black hedgehog asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Maria felt regret in her words but she knew she couldn't go back to the living with no memory.

"Yes I will."

"It's a simple request I want you to take a small part of me back with you."

"Why…why can't you go back?"

"I have not been called back…but if you take a small part of me with you I can see what is going on in the living realm."

Maria smiled. "Oh that's all you want. I'll be happy to do that for you. How do I that?"

The hedgehog gave her a purple chaos emerald..

"Take this emerald with you. Once it is in living realm, I will be able to witness all that is happening there.

Maria took it.

"One more question…" Maria asked as the light around her became brighter and the world began to fade away. "What is your name?"

The hedgehog stared at her for a few seconds before he whispered.

"My name is Mephiles."

"Thank you…Mephiles." Maria said softly.

Finally the light died away leaving Mephiles alone in the dark realm.

"Enjoy yourself Maria…while you can." Mephiles' chilling laughter rang around him in the dead silence.

So that is the first chapter of this fic. So what did you think. Don't forget to read and review. bye


	2. Chapter 2

Hi again Fanfiction. I'm back with chapter 2 of fic. In this chapter has Maria alive and her escape from the Dark Legion.

It also goes into flashback when the Legion attacks the ARK(I found interesting because Shadow thought GUN was responisble. GUN's Commander thought Shadow was responisble so Maria will think the Dark Legion was responsible it would be so interesting if that was the twist but that is what fanfiction is made for.)

This chapter has some gore but nothing too heavy, but that may change later.

I own none of the Sonic characters they are either from Sega or Archie Comics

Enjoy.

Maria felt her eyes open. Her visions was nothing but a blur. At first she thought she was still dead. Suddenly she could feel her chest rise and fall. She was breathing she was alive.

Maria attempted to adjust her eyes to see who she should be grateful to for restoring her life when she made a horrible discovery.

The beings standing around her were completely cloaked. They were the very cloaked creatures that had invaded her home and killed everyone there.

The tiny girl's chest suddenly felt heavy as her heart began to beat faster and faster.

The cloaked creatures had revived her. Why? They had attempted to silence everyone on the ARK now they wanted to keep her alive.

"Monsters…why did you revive me?" Maria demanded her voice so heavy from fear.

"Ungrateful human, our Grandmaster was kind enough to restore your life. And this is how you repay us?" A legionnaire demanded.

"You killed everyone on the ARK. I owe you nothing."

"What did you expect it's her fault the mission failed."

Maria knew the Dark Legion were coming for Shadow. But, why they wanted his power she didn't know. They were many things that not even her Grandfather had told her.

"Well Shadow's is safe from your Grandmaster."

"Not for long human…"

"What I don't understand is why would the Grandmaster bring her back to life?"

"You know how he is. He always has something planned that we never know about."

Maria was completely curious as to what the Grandmaster supposedly had planned.

The cloaked soldiers turned their attention to her.

"Regardless, human. Your property of the Dark Legion now. And first order of business is to bring you before the Grandmaster.

Maria felt her heart quake. If the legionnaires were powerful. What would there Grandmaster be like. After all, he was the one to call the attack on the ARK. He was the one that tore her and Shadow apart. He was the one that ruined her life. She couldn't look that creature in the face. She never would.

"No I won't go." Maria spat back.

"Oh you'll go. Even if we have to drag you by your pretty long hair." The first soldier attempted to grab her.

Maria noticed a scapel by the slab she was lying on. With a rush of adrenline she grabbed the scapel and stabbed the cloaked figure in his eye.

The legionnaire screamed in pain giving Maria a chance to hop off the slab and find an escape from wherever she was being held.

The second legionnaire ran to his partner.

"Fool, she'll get away."

The wounded legionnaire ran to the intercom.

"ATTENTION ALL LEGIONNAIRES, ONE OF THE PRISONER'S ESCAPED. SEARCH THE FACILITY FOR A BLOND HUMAN."

The two legionnaires ran out of the room in pursuit of the girl.

They turned the corner to see if the small human had ran in that direction.

On the other side of corner, Maria waited for them to pass. The air around her seemed so think. She looked down at her body to see that her clothes were gone and was replaced with a thin hospital gown.

Alarms blared all around her. Finally the coast was clear as she ran down the next hallway.

Suddenly dozens of soldiers appeared all around.

Maria hooked to the left as she tried to find the exit that would lead her outside.

Everywhere around there seemed to be more and more soldiers all blocking the doors and exits that could lead her outside.

"All the exits are blocked human, there is nowhere to go." A soldier demanded coming toward her.

Maria looked to see a window that was just large enough for her to jump through.

The girl had to wonder if there would be a drop, but she figured she would have to take the risk if she wanted to escape.

"I'll jump out the window." Maria threatened. "I jump out if you don't let me go."

"Your not going to jump out that window. It's a 100 foot drop you'll die instantly."

"I've been dead once before so I'll take my chances." Maria lied.

The girl knowing there was a deadly drop now felt reluctant to jump.

"You have to get to out of here but you can't jump out the window. Think Maria think." The girl's mind screamed.

Suddenly she looked down at her side to notice the purple chaos emerald in her hand.

"Chaos Emerald…you must help me." She whispered.

"Jump out the window…" Mephiles' voice purred in her mind.

"What…jump out the window…I'll die."

"No you won't…but you have to jump."

"But…but…"

"Don't you want to escape?" The mysterious hedgehog cooed.

"Yes."

"Then jump out the window."

Maria looked out the window then back at the soldiers.

"Then farewell." Maria cried before pushing herself out the window.

"NO!" One of the soldiers screamed.

Maria felt herself falling to the ground bracing for impact. As she neared the ground she shut her eyes. But, when she felt herself hit the ground she felt no pain. She opened her eyes to see herself in the crouching position without a scratch.

"Did you save me?" Maria asked the Chaos Emerald.

She got no response.

She looked up to see the horrified and shocked looks on the legionnaires faces. They couldn't believe a young girl survived a 100 foot drop without a scratch.

Maria taking the advantage immediately took off into the trees.

She hoped that she would stumble upon a town or a city where she could hide. Maybe someone could explain to her what was going on.

As she ran, the sound of gunshots poured through the air. The Dark Legion had not given up on their pursuit of her, not yet.

The girl continued to run and not look back. She remembered the last time she made the mistake of looking back.

Maria had been running from the legionnaires back on the Ark. Maria gripped Shadow's hand tightly as they tried their best to outrun them.

Gunshots and screams echoed all around them. Blood stained the floors and the walls. Tears had flown down her cheeks as her heart pound.

"Shadow…who in their right mind would cause something like this?"

"I don't know Maria…I don't know."

"We have to find Grandfather…we need to know if he's okay."

The pair continued to run when they noticed one of the ARK's security team calling for support.

"ARK to Headquarters we need GUN reinforcement right away, were being to destroyed."

"Back up won't be on the ARK for another hour."

"We don't have another hour…we'll all be dead. We need backup now."

"We'll try to get there as fast as we can…but it still looks like it will be an hour at the least. Standby to report conditions in the meantime."

"Will do."

Maria and Shadow watched from there hiding place.

"Shadow…what if GUN doesn't come…what if they come when it's too late?"

"Maria…we can't wait for them…we have to get out of here."

"What about Grandfather…what about everyone else we can't leave them."

"We don't have a choice…we have to get ourselves out of here. I promised the Professor I would always protect you." The black hedgehog was just as frightened as she was.

"Shadow…"

"I think I know why their here…there after me…I know it."

"I won't let them take you Shadow we'll protect each other no matter what."

"No matter what?" Shadow whispered back.

"There's the black hedgehog and another human, get them." A legionnaire screamed.

Shadow grabbed Maria's hand as they two bolted down the halls. Maria saw all the blood.

"Maria don't look at the blood. Look ahead and don't look back." Shadow begged.

Maria felt her heart beating in her ears. She just took a small glance to see the legionnaires gaining on them. Maria yipped in surprise and let go.

Shadow was moving so fast that he had already disappeared before she realized it.

The girl whimpered and attempted to go into the direction that she thought she saw Shadow run into. There were so many passages she didn't know which one to take. She continued to run hoping to find her friend only to find herself in a dead end.

Maria's breathing became rapid both from fear and her illness she had no where to run.

Loud footsteps came from behind. She turned around to see a large bulking figure appear.

His eyes glowed in the darkness. And what was even more scary was this creature was more cybernetic than organic. He was looking at her with a demented smile.

Maria whimpered as tears slid down cheeks.

The cyborg looked at his arm before looking back at her.

"Believe me, this going to hurt you more than it's going to hurt me. And make sure to scream. I love it when they scream.

Maria let out a sob as she shut her eyes.

Suddenly the cyborg transformed his arm into a harpoon and impaling her in the chest.

Maria let out an agonizing scream as she crumpled to the ground.

The young girl shook the horrid image away as she found herself nearing the end of the wooded area.

She saw the path that would continue but the legionnaires would eventually catch her. Or she could jump into the water and give them the slip.

The girl with out thinking threw herself into the dark water.

Just as she jumped in, the Legionnaires had come into the clearing.

"Where is she? We were just behind her?"

One of the soldiers looked down into the water below but saw nothing.

"I don't know she could switched directions or jumped into the water, but we won't know for sure, for now she's gone."

"We have to find her. The Grandmaster wants her alive."

"Report back to base…We'll decide a strategy from there."

The soldiers went back to the fortress.

Maria managed to swim to a bayou. She grabbed hold of the wet metal holding on for dear life.

By a miracle the girl saw a fishing boat coming her way that must have been out for the day.

The boat took notice of the girl and she could hear the sound of the bullhorn.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE WE'RE COMING FOR YOU."

Maria kept hanging on but the cold water was causing her to lose her grip.

Suddenly a man in a small boat rowed towards her.

"Can you grab my hand?" He asked.

Maria stayed still terrified the waves would take her away.

"I promise I won't let anything happen. Just grab my hand and I'll pull you in."

Maria finally got the courage to move as she grabbed the man's hand. And with strength he pulled her into the boat.

"I got her. We're coming back."

The tiny boat rowed back to the ship and finally pulled back on.

"Hurry and get some blankets." One of the men cried.

Maria lay on the floor almost dazed. She managed to escape. She hugged the purple Chaos emerald to her chest. In a way it saved her life.

Afterwards. One of the men had Maria wrapped in a dozen blankets and had her taken to the sick bay.

"Keep her as warm as possible."

Maria lay in the sick bay for awhile still dazed. Numerous people had come in asking her who she was or where she had come from.

Maria didn't say very much. She knew she couldn't use her real name. Everyone thought she was dead. Also the Dark Legion could have spies around and could find her.

So the young girl spent the rest of the ship ride sleeping away the stress.

That's it for Chapter 2. I actually felt chills run down my spine as I wrote while listening dark ambience music. So what did you guys think. Read and Review.


	3. Chapter 3

Well I'm back again with Chapter 3. Nothing really is going to happen in this one except for a couple of mindfucks but that's about it.

I do not own anything Sonic related.

Enjoy

Chapter 3

It was sundown by the time the ship had returned to the harbor.

Maria was more than relieved to be back on dry land. She was even my happy when one of the men promised there would be fresh warm clothes and a nice hot meal waiting for her.

The girl went to the window and looked out at the ocean. She remembered when she would spend hours looking at the pictures dreaming she could go swimming in there one day. That dream had to be tainted. She only went swimming in the ocean just to escape her captors, her murderers. Now in the light of the setting sun, the ocean looked like a huge scape of flowing blood.

"Sweetie, we've reached the port it's time to get off." An older looking man said tapping her shoulder.

Maria looked at him with an innocent look on her pale face. With a blanket still draped over her, she followed the man off the ship and followed him into what looked like a large warehouse.

"The shower is through there, I would suggest you take one. I'll leave some clothes by the door for you. If you need anything call for us, we'll be unloading the ship."

Maria watched as the man left. She went inside the small room witnessing the small shower stall. The girl took off the thin gown but decided to leave her undergarments on.

She turned it on to feel the hot water rain upon her.

She looked up to see the dim lights flicker slightly. The room was so quiet the girl was convinced she was going to crazy. She wished there was the tiniest bit of noise that could ease her.

Maria looked down at some of the soap that was there but for the most part she stood still and just let the water warm hit her body. Suddenly, that's lights flickered off and there was nothing but darkness.

"Hello, is anybody there?" Maria asked in a tiny voice.

Nobody answered her call.

She looked down at the emerald and saw it's faint glow. She raised it higher using it as a flashlight and walked towards the other stalls. She pulled back each of the curtains to find nobody there.

Steam was all around her making the air thick. She then noticed more of the showers turning on all on their own.

"Is someone here." Maria asked again.

Still no one answered her.

The steam made the air almost too thick to breathe. Maria ran to the door to get out only to find the knob was so hot she couldn't touch it.

The tiny human banged on the door crying for help. Something had to be in the room with her. If there wasn't then what was causing the strange occurance.

"HELP, PLEASE SOMEONE LET ME OUT. IT'S TO HOT IN HERE HELP." Tears streamed down her face her heart was beating a mile a minute that she was almost convinced it was going to rip out of her chest.

Suddenly the door opened revealing the older man and instantly the lights turned back on. The showers had turned off and steam was coming from the one little stall.

"You were screaming, are you all right?" The man asked.

"The lights there were shut off. The showers turned themselves on. And the steam I thought I was going to suffocate. Someone was in here with me." Maria whimpered from her place on the floor.

The man walked into the room and searched the stalls only to find nothing unusual. The lights worked fine and it seemed like nobody had used the showers that day.

"There's nothing in here. Maybe it was just your imagination."

"There had to have been someone in here. This stuff doesn't happen on it's own."

"But…but…"

"I have some clothes for you why don't you come out and change."

Maria decided not to argue anymore and followed the man outside.

The man gave her a thick blue sweatshirt. A pair light brown sweatpants. Some warm socks a clean pair of undergarments and some faded sneakers.

"The sweats might be a little big but they should keep you warm. Go in the front office and change. Dinner should be ready soon."

Maria nodded as she scurried into the office.

She quickly threw off her wet undergarments and replaced them with fresh ones. She slid the sweatpants on they were quite baggy but the drawstring kept them nice and tight along her waist. The sweatshirt was nice and warm. Maria felt better in her cozy sweats. As she was putting her socks and shoes on she heard a loud banging on the window.

The girl jumped. Was there someone at the window?

She cautiously walked to the window prepared to pull back the blinds. The with one quick swoop she pulled back the blinds to see nothing but a tree branch bang against the window.

Maria found herself laughing.

"The guy must be right, maybe it is just my imagination maybe the showers were to. I must be really jumpy. The girl closed the blinds and made her way to the mess hall where the fisherman were waiting.

"Well dinner's just about to be served. Hope you like fish and chips."

"Fried food, at least something good is happening today." Maria thought to herself.

The plate of food was set before her as she immediately started to dig in.

"After you eat, we'll take you home…but first we should call your parents to let them know your okay."

Maria felt her heart stop. She hadn't thought about that. She didn't have parents. They both died when she was a baby.

"Umm…my parents you…see…well…"

Suddenly a young fisherman came into the mess hall looking almost like a ghost.

"Guys…two Dark Legion soldiers are here. They want to question everybody."

Maria felt her blood freeze. They were here if they saw her. She would be in their custody and all of the fisherman would be dead.

Maria ran off to hide in some of the netting near the port area placing some tarp over her. She kept it open just enough to see what was going on outside.

Suddenly two soldiers walked into the area guns in hand.

"Good evening to you sirs. Nice night tonight huh?" The older fisherman asked smiling nervously.

"Cut the bullshit…we're here on important business." The first soldier replied with great malice.

"What brings you to the port?" The younger fisherman asked.

"A prisoner has escaped from headquarters. And we have been ordered to track them down."

"When did this happen?"

"Early this morning…near the spot where you fisherman were out by." The second soldier explained.

"That;s just a coincidence, What did this prisoner look like?"

"A young female. About 12 years old with blond hair and blue eyes."

"I don't recall seeing a young girl out there this morning." The old fisherman lied.

"Our reports show that the girl was last seen coming in this direction. So you haven't seen her?"

"No…I would tell you if I did."

Maria felt her heart beating loudly in her ears. She was almost convinced that if it was beating any louder the soldiers would hear it.

"She could be hiding." Said the first soldier to the second one.

"Nobody's hiding in here. You asked us and we said no.

"You'd better not be lying. Because if you are…we will find out."

"We're not lying…I swear." The old fisherman answered staying stoned faced.

The two soldiers looked at each other for awhile. Wondering if maybe if they were telling the truth but they were convinced the fisherman was hiding something.

The first soldier raised his gun to the fisherman.

"Would you like to change your answer?" He demanded.

"Knock it off…we're leaving."

The soldier lowered his gun before glaring.

The second soldier turned to the door before looking back one more time.

"We'll be back…and next time maybe you'll have some more information or God help you."

The soldiers were gone.

All the fisherman breathed deeply relieved they didn't discover they were lying or the girl.

After about 15 minutes, Maria came out from her hiding place trembling.

"Thank you for covering for me…but I have to leave."

The old man walked up to her.

"Do you have any place to go?"

"No…I'll find somewhere, I just can't stay…they'll be back."

"We can take you to GUN headquarters, you'll be safe there."

Maria knew that wasn't true. If the Dark Legion could take down the ARK they would take GUN headquarters just as easily. She would not be safe there besides that would be the first place they would look.

"No I won't be safe there. They'll probably pay them off to hand me over…I can't go there"

"You can't just wander the streets you'll be completely vulnerable."

"It's better than here or GUN those are dangerous. Just drop me off somewhere and I'll find some place to go.

"I'm heading to Central City to drop off some fish…I can drop you off there." One of the fisherman said.

"That's perfect I can escape from there but how will I go undetected?"

"We can hide you in some boxes and when we get to the city, you can flee from there."

"That will work."

"But we have to hurry. The Legionnaires could come back at any time."

The older fisherman went into his wallet and handed Maria some money.

"Here…I want you to take this…It should be able to get you some food…and a place to sleep but promise you will stay off the streets as much as you can."

"I promise."

Some of the fisherman gave her some more money to help her along. Maria then climbed into a large box curling up tightly as she clutched the emerald in her hands.

"You ready?"

"I guess I don't have a choice."

"The box was closed as the fisherman loaded it on to the truck.

Maria heard the sound of the engine starting up as the truck made it's way down to Central and hopefully farther away from her pursuers.

That's it for this chapter. This one wasn't a favorite of mine but it still moved it along. And the shower stall incident was creepy then again. Having a mindfuck in a shower stall or being locked in a locker room is something that really does scare me. But as for what happened who you think was responisble or was just in Maria's head. I'm curious to see.

Other than that Read and Review. Bye.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, I am back again bringing you Chapter 4 of Under The Surface.

First, I would thank BiteWorseThanBark for reading over the chapter for me and helping me out with the grammer flaws. I really appericate it.

Second I would like to point out a couple things things. First, I would like to point out that the Brotherhood of Guardians start to come in this chapter. Regarding the order of the guardians this is how I was familiar with it. Spectre, Thunderhawk, Sojourner, Janelle Li, Athair, Sabre, Locke, and then of course our idoit Knuckles. I know some say it's Sojourner then Thunderhawk. But, I am going on how I am familair with it, plus it's funnier for stories. Which by the way, I strongly recommand looking up stories written by Cerwyn Daquin. Her stories involving the guardians are hilarious. Two Janelle's time of death is different as you will see why. Third, How Edmund dies is different too, it will be explained later.

Third Mephiles kinda gives a hint as to how he got into the grey limbo, but I'm not going to spoil anything yet.

All right I'm done rambling.

Maria and Mephiles are owned by sega. The Dark Legion and Brotherhood of Guardians are owned by Archie Comics.

Here we go

Chapter 4

Maria had been crouched in the box for hours and she had to wonder when she would finally arrive at Central city.

For the time being however, all had been quiet so no legionnaires must have stopped the truck.

The girl opened the box a tiny bit to see that the sun was rising in the clouds. Dawn must have come.

She turned her eyes again to see the forms of tall buildings along the sky. She was finally in Central city.

Once assured that the coast was clear, Maria resisted the urge to burst from the box, instead slipping stealthily out of it. When her feet hit the ground, she quickly glanced the around to make sure there really were no soldiers nearby. There was none, so she ran down the nearby alley, mindful of the amount of noise she was making, but not once looking back.

Upon exiting the alley, she found herself in what appeared to be the main streets of Central City, which were busy with life. People were walking by and the owners of numerous vendors selling food or various trinkets were shouting out their prices of their wares and bargains of the day.

Maria looked up at the sky again to see if the sun had come into full shine, however the sky was covered with thick grey clouds. A bad thunderstorm seemed to be coming their way.

The girl walked over to a small stand that had a radio playing some news about the weather.

"Well it looks like we'll be seeing strong thunderstorms and some wind. Be sure to dress dry and stay indoors if possible. Stay tuned for your extended forecast."

Maria stared up at the sky again. That wouldn't be good. If there was going to be a thunderstorm, it would make it harder for her to flee if any of the soldiers came to the city looking for her.

She looked down the emerald again. It still puzzled her as to why Mephiles wanted her to take it with her and how he knew so much about her and Shadow. Was he their friend? Would they have met him at a later? She didn't know and she was determined to find out.

"Chaos Emerald can you hear me?" She asked.

"Yes I can hear you." Mephiles whispered.

"Chaos Emerald, Mephiles…there's something I want you to tell me."

"That depends…"  
"How do you know so much about Shadow and I? And how did you know that the Dark Legion was going to attack?"

Mephiles was silent for quite awhile, causing Maria if he was purposely avoiding her question.

"Because I saw the whole thing."

"What do you mean saw the whole thing?"

"I have the ability to see into the future. This was how I knew of the Dark Legion's attack, as well as how you died and that it was Shadow they placed the blame upon."

"Do you know where Shadow is?"

"No, all I saw was the attack and what the results were."

Maria still wasn't satisfied.

"Mephiles, why did you want me to bring this emerald with me? To be honest, I feel like there's something you're not telling me."

"I told you why I wanted you bring it here…"

"But still…"

"That is exactly the reason why I had you bring it and that's that." The hedgehog's voice seemed to be filling with rage.

Maria rolled her eyes but decided not to press on the conversation anymore. She knew she had other things to worry about.

"Mephiles?"

"Yes?"

"Why did the Dark Legion want Shadow?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you…"  
"You know. Please tell me why."

"It's not my place to tell you…you'll to have to find that out on your own. But, I promise you will find out soon."

"When?" Maria asked, her voice rising.

"Very soon, I gaurantee it."

Maria stared at emerald for a rather long time. He knew…he knew something she didn't. She wanted to yell and scream until the hedgehog finally told what she wanted to hear. But, what good was that going to do? It was more than obvious that Mephiles was going to keep silent until either she found out on her own or, the mysterious being finally decided to tell her himself.

Maria laughed bitterly to herself before she dropped the emerald to her side. She looked down at the baggy sweats she was wearing. Although they kept her warm, she needed to find a different pair of clothes that could help her blend in.

She took out the small bag of money before she made her way to the nearest clothing store. The rain had already picked up slightly and her clothes were already soaking wet.

She kept her head low and stared at the ground as she walked. There were puddles everywhere; all of them reflecting her face, which was rather frightening to look at.

Amongst everything, Maria had no change to her appearance but, her face was so pale, one would think she was made of marble. Her blonde hair used to be curly and vibrant. Now, it was only flat and dull.

She closed her eyes and looked away. She didn't to remember herself looking this way, she wanted to remember herself happy and vibrant, not sad and worn out from the world's cruelties.

When she finally had the strength to lift her head, it was to find herself standing in front of a small boutique.

Maria gently opened the door to see numerous outfits from the dresses all the way to pajamas.

"Welcome to Central City's Boutique for young adults, how may I help you?" The young woman behind the counter asked in a rather haughty voice.

"I was looking for some new clothes. I was wondering if you could possibly lend me a hand?" Maria asked innocently.

The woman walked over, taking in the girl's appearance before snottily raising her nose.

"I doubt that will be easy. Where did you get those clothes? From behind a dumpster?" The woman laughed cruelly.

It took everything the tiny girl had to keep herself from bursting into tears, but she remained cool and decided to shop and leave as fast as she could.

"I just want to buy some things, then I can leave."

"Uggghhh! Fine, the sooner your sickly pale face leaves, the sooner I can go back to reading my magazine."

Maria followed the salesgirl to a rack of dresses and after a few minutes, Maria stopped, seeing a beautiful that looked perfect for casual wear.

"I like this dress." Maria smiled picking it up.

"Whatever, go try it on if you like it so much."

"Why are you so mean to me?" Maria asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"I don't think I'm being that mean." The woman hissed back.

"Yes you are, you're making it seem that I'm ugly or something."  
"Listen here sweetie, maybe you would be better to look at if you did something about that horrid paleness."

"This has just happened recently! I've been through a lot."

"Oh boo hoo! You act as if the whole world revolves around you."  
"I didn't say that!"

"Even with these clothes, they still won't do you any good. You'll still look in the mirror and your reflection will always be the same."

"Is there a problem here?" A dark voice asked came from behind.

The two girls turned to see a large brooding figure of an echidna completely wrapped inside a thick robe with a hood over his head and thick smoke rising from beneath his feet.

The salesgirl snorted before folding her arms.

"Well, one of the guardians… You don't have to worry this little girl and I were having a friendly chat."

"Judging by her glassy eyes, I don't think she found it all that friendly."

"Mind your business."

The echidna lowered his hood, revealing his steel helmet and the red glare of his eyes.

The salesgirl's eyes widened quite a bit and she took a step back.

"Hey…look, I was just kidding, you know? Ha ha…"

The echidna looked her straight in the eyes with the firm scowl on his face.

"Listen here, if I ever hear you talk to someone like that again, then you're going to find yourself in a body bag. Do you understand?" The male snarled.

"Yes sir…" The girl said in a very tiny voice.

"Good, now finish taking care of this charming little girl and apologize when you're finished."

Maria remained in a rather surprised state. She couldn't believe what she had just heard, but she managed to pull herself together as she brought her items to the counter, all the while the salesgirl had a tight frown on her face.

Maria handed the older girl the change before the girl spoke one last time to her.

"Sorry." She practically spat making it more than obvious she didn't mean what she had said.

Maria looked down at the ground before walking away.

"Perhaps you should spend more time reading about etiquette than you do at a tanning bed." The Guardian suggested in a tone that was less than friendly.

"Have a nice day!" The salesgirl said, going back to her magazine, not even looking him in the eye.

The echidna barred his teeth but simply walked out.

In a daze, Maria found herself back on the street, with bags in hand. Her shock from the events of the last few minutes made her tense as a coiled spring, so much so, that she jumped when the echidna from earlier touched her shoulder.

Maria looked up into the echidna's blazing red eyes, they were so much like Shadow's.

"I'm sorry that had to happen to you back there, that teenager's behavior was horrendous."

"That's okay, I'm used to stuff like that." Maria answered quietly, looking at the ground.

The echidna's expression hardened quite a bit. "Where on Earth are your parents? Don't they know you're out here alone?"

"My parents died when I was baby, I never knew them." Maria answered, her voice barely audible.

The male's face softened at the discovery.

"I'm very sorry, I lost my parents at a young age as well."

"That's okay, I find it hard to mourn for people I didn't even know."

"Is there anyone taking care of you?"

Maria was tempted to say her grandfather, but she was worried that would give away her identity, and that was something she wanted to keep private.

"I lived in an orphanage for awhile but, I wasn't happy. Nobody wanted to adopt me so I ran away. I felt I was better on the streets than back there watching as everyone else got to home to a loving family but not me." The young girl lied.

"What is your name?"

The girl felt her heart stop. What would she say? She couldn't give him her real name. Not when the Dark Legion could be around. She would lie, keep her identity a secret.

"My name is Marra." She just blurted.

"Well then…Marra, I'm Spectre…Member of the Brotherhood of Guardians in the line of Edmund."

The girl stood in shock One of the members of the Brotherhood of Guardians was standing before her. She had only heard of them through books or her Grandfather. And one them bore a strong resemblance to her only friend in the world. Maria felt a large smile appear on her face.

"Nice to meet you, Guardian Spectre the Echidna." The girl said with great pride.

Spectre was a little surprised, since it had been a long time he had seen a child treat him with such manners.

"Well Marra, I was on my way to a little bistro for lunch, would you like to join me?"

Maria heard her stomach growling, plus it would be nice to have some company.

"Yes sir, I would love to join you."

Amongst the cold rain, Maria trotted happily by Spectre's side. It felt as if Shadow had come back to her. The guardian was like her life raft in this lonely new world, and these few moments with him wiped away all her pain, sorrow, and fear of the Dark Legion

A couple hours had passed with Maria sitting inside the little bistro. She was listening to Spectre talk with great interest, there were some many interesting stories about the guardians. Maria didn't know what she liked best, but continued to sit in her chair, happily laughing with her cheeks bright red.

"You have such lovely blue eyes Marra…they remind me of my Great Granddaughter, Janelle Li."

"Janelle Li?"

"Yes, she was a lot like you, her face always seemed to light up the room. Her father looked upon her with great pride."

"Where is she? What happened to her?" Maria asked curious.

"She died a long time ago." Spectre answered, almost sounding faraway.

"What happened to her?" Maria demanded, completely surprised a powerful being, like a guardian, could succumb to death so soon.

"Shortly after her son, and my Great Great Grandson, Athair was born, she became very sick. She was the only female guardian we ever had. She had emerald powers just like us but after she gave birth, her body couldn't handle her powers anymore. We watched as it took 3 years for her body to completely shut down. Sadly, Athair barely remembers, but my Grandson Sojourner knew all too well. When she finally died, he was completely devastated and for days would act just like a zombie. It broke his heart to see himself outlive his child."

Maria found herself wondering if she had ever scared her mother and father. She knew she would have, since she had been diagnosed with a deadly illness since birth. She also wondered if they hadn't died, that they would be like Sojourner, mourning the loss of a child who passed before they did from either her disease or the tragedy aboard the ARK.

Like Athair, Maria never knew her parents. She only had one reminder of them; an old photo of the two of them. Her father had his arms wrapped around her mother while she was holding a baby Maria in her arms. The two were smiling, although you could tell that sadness was behind them, as if they knew they would all be separated at any given time.

Spectre sighed to himself before he changed the subject.

"Well then Marra, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

The girl's heart stopped

"Well…I…you see…there's…um…" She didn't know what to say. What could she say?

"Maria…." Came the all too familiar purring.

Maria looked down in her lap to see the chaos emerald glowing. What could it possibly want?

"You must leave now."

"Why? I' m not in any danger."

"You have to leave." Mephiles insisted.

"But, I don't understand…"

"Do as I say and leave."

Maria sat still. Why did Mephiles want her to leave? What was wrong?  
"Marra…are right?" Spectre asked.

Maria's head snapped up.

"I'm very sorry but, I have to go now."

"Why, what's the matter?"

"I have to go." Maria said, her face had gone completely pale.

"You're not leaving until you tell me what's wrong."

"Thank you for being so kind to me, but I'm sorry… I have to go now. Goodbye." Maria grabbed her bags and rushed out of the bistro as fast as she could.

The rain was now a complete downpour as the young girl ran through the wet streets, trying to find someplace to go.

"MARRA, GET BACK HERE!" She could hear Spectre screaming after her.

Maria turned around to see the echidna running after her, she thought she felt tears run down her cheeks. Then again maybe it was just the rain.

"COME BACK AND TALK TO ME! THERE HAS TO BE REASON WHY YOU'RE RUNNING AWAY!"

Maria suddenly found herself within a large crowd of people. She squeezed her way through and didn't even look back to see if Spectre had caught up with her. When she got past the crowd she continued running, not daring to look back.

Several hours later, Maria found herself deep within downtown. The sun had gone down and nothing but rain was around her. The girl finally stopped running and looked behind her, only to see nobody had followed her. Maria had found herself convinced that Spectre had lost sight of her in the enormous crowd and had given up on his search.

The young girl felt tears slide down her already wet cheeks. She knew it was more guilt than fear that made her feel this way. Spectre had reached out to her and she had ran away, and she didn't even know why. Why would she run away from the one that bore the resemblance of her best friend?

"Shadow…what am I doing wrong?" She whispered to herself, only to have nobody answer.

After standing in the street for what seemed like hours, Maria finally decided to find a hotel.

She walked in the streets for another 15 minutes when she finally saw a cheap motel she could stay at.

She entered, and she found herself in an old room, with an equally old lady watching a rather busted tv, that was currently on some late nigh talk show..

"Can I you help there, sugar cakes?" The woman asked in a rather raspy voice.

"I would like to rent a room, please." Maria said feeling rather uncomfortable.

"This is new, most of the women that come here often bring a guy with them." The woman let out wheezy laugh sending chills down the girl's spine.

"I'm just by myself."

"How long do you plan on staying here?"

"I don't know."

"Well then, that'll be a 20 dollar down payment for now."

Maria handed her the money without hesitation.

The woman handed her a key.

"Your room is going to be 243. Have a good night, sugar cakes." The woman laughed again, sending Maria running out the door.

She ran as fast as she could to her room before rushing in and locking it.

Maria immediately ripped off her soaking wet clothes, only standing there in her undergarments. She then went into the bag and pulled out a thick sweatshirt and some loose pants. After pulling them on she sat on the bed.

"Mephiles, why did you want me to leave?"

"The guardian cannot be trusted."

"I don't understand…he did nothing wrong" Maria said, hurt within her blue eyes

"The Guardian, Spectre is notorious for his temper, even members of Dark Legion fear him. If he were to find out about you and me, we would both be at risk."  
"But, that can't be true, he was so much like Shadow, he would've never hurt me."

"But, don't I remind you of Shadow?" Mephiles asked, his voice was like syrup.

The young human found herself unable to resist the hedgehog.

"Yes…but…"  
"The Guardian can't do anything for your benefit if anything, he would simply leave you for the legionnaires to find if he knew of your true identity."

"That's not true!"

"Is it?"

Maria suddenly felt so alone. The Guardian she had quickly become accustomed to, could be an enemy. If he knew the truth, could he have the capability of hurting her? The ability to take Mephiles away and leave her even more vulnerable to the Legion?

She curled into a tiny ball on the bed sobbing bitterly. This couldn't be her life, this couldn't be her fate, she couldn't be alone.

"I have no nobody…I'm so alone." Maria whimpered aloud, letting her self pity take over.

Suddenly she felt an invisible hand run gently through her wet hair.

"I'm your friend. I would never do anything to hurt you." Mephiles responded, his voice soothingly seductive.

Maria continued to lay there as she cried herself to sleep.

Meanwhile in the vast empty vast between the living and the dead, Mephiles lay in the reclining position, as he saw Maria cry herself to sleep.

"Oh innocent little Maria, you're moving in the exact direction I want you to. The more that you will use my emerald, the more powerful I will become. Soon I will escape from this place and wreck havoc on the world once more."

Mephiles looked around him to see the drifting souls all around him.

"Edmund was foolish. He was so preoccupied with his brother that he thought he had completely gotten rid of me. Well that was a mistake and in the end I managed to survive here, and he lost his life to his own brother."

Mephiles tapped his fingers against the ground.

"I have to keep Maria away from those guardians. If they discover or learn about me, then they could cancel my powers and I will be stuck here forever. Until Maria serves her purpose I can't afford to make any mistakes. Until then, she'll provide me with some fun."

The creature of darkness laughed so wickedly, that it felt as if the air had frozen around him.

Well, That's it for this chapter. How was it? Read and Review.


	5. Chapter 5

**What's everybody? I'm back from my seclusion coming to bring you Chapter 5 of Under the Surface.**

**Again, I would like to thank BiteWorseThanBark for once again proof reading my chapters. **

**In this chapter Kommissar AKA Lien Da makes her appearence. I even gave her a fight scene.**

**Maria actually becomes slightly firey in this chapter. She was always seen as a sweet quiet little thing. But, we all know she had to have some fire to her. Especially since she gave her own life to save Shadow's.**

**Last. the Dark Legion's Grandmaster starts to come in near the end of chapter. However I will not reveal his identity yet. That probably will not happen until near the end of the fanfic. So if you already know who it is, please do not spoil it for the other readers. If you want to see if you can prove who the mysterious Grandmaster is, then you may send me a PM and I will tell if you were right or wrong. Other than that no spoiling. Those of you who have read the comics probably already know.**

**Other than that I don't have much to say just enjoy the chapter. I think you all will.**

**Maria and Mephiles are owned by Sega. The Dark Legion and The Brotherhood of Guardians are owned by Archie Comics.**

**Here we go**

Chapter 5

Maria looked out the window of her hotel room, the world as dark and dismal grey as she felt. The impression she got of this was that all color from the world was washed away, in a matter of an old faded picture book, that had been put through years of abuse and neglect.

Maria did not have the ability to cry anymore. After running from Spectre, she cried herself to sleep, waking with no tears left to flow. She was empty.

She looked down at the streets, nothing but the cold rain washed around the streets, seeming to reinforce her earlier thought of the world taking the appearance of a colorless picture book.

Maria looked down at the chaos emerald on the table.

Maria wanted to believe that the emerald was truly helping her, she really did. But, at what cost? Strange events had occurred ever since she brought the jewel with her.

First, when Maria was attempting to escape the Dark Legion's headquarters, she had been cornered at a window. If she not used the emerald's power to help her, she would have died on impact. In this instance, the gem had simultaneously saved her life and allowed to escape from the legion's grandmaster.

Second, whilst she was showering at the fish port, all the lights had gone out, and multiple showers turning on by themselves, steaming the room the room so badly that breathing had been a struggle. She was less certain of this event the emerald's work, believing that this might have been the grandmaster's doing; since from what little she had heard of him, she knew he possessed supernatural powers. He was also very evil; as anybody who came face to face to him in a confrontation never lived to tell the tale.

Finally, the emerald had pulled her away from Spectre. The guardian reminded her so much of Shadow, which comforted her and seemed to fill the emptiness she felt. However, the emerald pulled her away, claiming that Spectre and the other guardians could not be trusted.

Ever since then, Maria had been hiding out, trying to stay as far away from anyone as possible.

She was tempted to converse with her emerald again, but she truly didn't feel like hearing Mephiles' spine chilling voice. It always seemed to frighten her, yet no matter what she did, she always seemed to be unable to resist him whenever he spoke. Almost as if he was putting her under a spell. A spell that seemed to pull her farther and farther away from the light, replacing it with a smothering grey.

Now the poor girl did not understand who her true enemy was. Was it the Dark legion and their mysterious Grandmaster? Or was it Mephiles, the creature that looked almost completely identical to the black hedgehog that she called her best friend?

Suddenly she heard a large commotion coming from below the room.

Maria pressed her head to the ground when she heard the sound of the crooked old woman that owned the motel and some other voices.

"So, the girl's here?" A male's voiced asked.

"Yes, that sugar cake has been here for days. Interesting little thing. She just stays in that room, only going out for food; that girl will probably die an old prune. Never feeling the pleasure of a man." The woman explained, she then let out her infamous wheezy laugh..

"Okay… Where exactly is she?" Another voice, this one female, demanded, sounding both angry, and a little disturbed.

"Well, if I were to tell you, what would I get out of this?"

"Cooperate and you will be compensated. If you don't, then I wouldn't want to be you." The woman snarled.

"Well then, Lady Kommissar, why don't I take you to room 243?" The old woman responded, in a rather slick voice.

"Well, I would say, humor me. If she didn't run away that is." Kommissar answered back, just as slick.

"Follow me then, Madame."

Maria felt her heart pound. She had to get out of the room before Kommissar saw her.

She grabbed her backpack, filling it with all the clothes she could grab. Grasping the emerald tightly in her hand, she immediately burst out the door... Only to see that the Legion soldiers were only 20 feet away from her, looking her directly in the eye.

There's the girl, grab her!" Kommissar ordered.

Maria immediately took off running down the stairs in the opposite direction. Her heart was beating frantically, like a distressed bird trapped in a too small cage. She couldn't let the Dark Legion get her. She couldn't let them bring her before their ruler, the very one who had everyone aboard the ARK brutally murdered, including herself.

The horrid thought pushed her to keep running. Not matter what were to happen, she would never stop running. Not until she either gave them the slip, or until her lungs popped and she could no longer run anymore.

"Don't let her out of your sights!" A soldier seethed.

Maria ran through the empty streets. She was now an open target just waiting to be shot, she had to get off the streets now.

The small girl ran up the steps of a corporate building, hoping that she could hide on the roof until the soldiers hopefully passed her by without a glance.

Running inside the building, she ran to the closest stairway that would lead her to the roof, the perfect place for her to hide.

Even with the 40 floors the girl had to climb, exhaustion did not stop her, not when the thoughts of being brought before the Grandmaster, especially since he was the one who had destroyed her life; and she had no idea why he was hunting for her after all this time.

After what seemed like hours, Maria finally reached the roof the building, she allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief, since she believed that she may have been safe for the moment.

That wasn't meant to last however, for Lady Kommissar was suddenly standing within the doorframe with a deadly looking whip in her hands, which was ready for immediate use.

"I finally found you." Kommissar said, her icy blue eyes staring directly into Maria's sky blue ones.

"You'll never take me alive." Maria shot back, even getting the courage to glare at the dominatrix.

Kommissar looked almost shocked that Maria would actually try to fight back.

"Listen here sweetie, you do realize I can take you down here and now?"

"Yes, Lady Kommissar."

"It's suicide to go against me, so to make it easier on yourself; just surrender and just accept the fact that we're going to get you."

"No! I can't let you do that. This is my life, and I will be the one who decides what to do with it!"

Kommissar cracked her whip against the ground; making her ears ring with horrifying sound.

"Then I'll just have to take you back by force."

Kommissar charged toward Maria at full force, the whip in her hands cracked against Maria's side. The pain was like fire; so much so, the girl tried to keep herself from crumpling to the ground. The young human attempted to charge to the echidna female, but the whip cracked against her other side, knocking her off her feet. The pain was almost too horrible to keep herself conscious.

Kommissar walked slowly up to her before kicking roughly in the stomach. Maria coughed up blood, unable to truly understand what was going on. The chaos emerald in her hand began to glow slightly brighter with each passing second.

"You were a fool to challenge me. Especially when you knew you couldn't fight me. Now you will be brought before my Great Grandfather."

Maria continued to lay on the ground, she was barely conscious and the pain seemed to numb to an extent, barely realizing the cold reality that was facing her.

Suddenly, a feeling of fire blazed through her body. The fire dulled her pain, making her feel, invincible.

Maria opened her eyes and found herself able to stand up. The pain was gone. She didn't feel anything. She felt powerful, almost like she had the ability to take Kommissar on.

"You think you can still beat a frail girl like me?" Maria asked, her voice almost deadly.

Kommissar was about to retort when she noticed Maria's eyes. She remembered they were a beautiful sky blue. Now, they were some sort of horrifying serpent green.

"What's…What's with your eyes?" Kommissar asked, almost terrified.

"I didn't notice anything different about me." Maria answered.

"Is this some sort of sick joke? Suddenly you've become this…this… demon child.

"I'm simply going to defend myself, as it is in nature for someone to protect themselves from harm."

Kommissar roared as she charged toward the girl, determined to finish her off one way or another.

Maria raised up her hand, sending out a purple shock wave that sent the echidna female crashing into a wall.

Kommissar pulled herself up to see Maria look at her with an almost surprised look on her face as she looked down at her hands.

Where did that power come from? Kommissar had demanded to know what happened to her eyes. Looking into the reflection of the window, the usual bright blue of Maria's eyes was replaced with a poisonous green.

They were the same color as Mephiles'. Could it be that Mephiles was controlling her body? He claimed that he just wanted to view the living world; yet ever since she came here, her normally frail body now seemed completely different; almost as if Mephiles was actually controlling her body. Like she was a puppet being pulled by her strings.

"Human… Maria, you're dancing on fire! Why don't you just give yourself before either of us get hurt." Kommissar said, shock was all on her face?

"I can't. Unless you answer me this question."

"What could you possibly want me to answer?"

"Why did the Grandmaster have the soldiers kill everybody on board my Grandfather's colony? What did he want, and why did he feel he needed to leave no witnesses?"

"I honestly don't know. No one's ever told any of us why we were to attack the ARK. We were ordered to capture Professor Gerald's most prized creation, Project Shadow, and bring him back to our headquarters."

"What were they going to do to him?"

"Well, if you want to know, you'll have to ask Great Grandfather why he wanted that black hedgehog. He never told us what the reason was."

Maria sighed quietly, as she let the information slowly sink in.

"Now, you're coming back to base."

Kommissar pulled out her whip and charged towards the small girl. Maria felt her hands glow before suddenly, a crystallized dagger appeared in her hands. Without warning, Maria slashed at Kommissar's stomach. The older female screamed as she crumpled back to the ground.

Although the wound was not deadly, it was very painful and was already leaking a lot of blood.

Maria looked back at her with the dagger still in her hand, ready to strike if the need was still there.

"Where is this power coming from?! You're only human! The only answer could be is that you're being controlled by another being. Maybe those Guardians gave you their powers… I don't know. But, whatever it is, I can't take you down on my own. We'll be back for you, Maria, and it will only get worse, but, I'll give you some advice: stay off the main roads. The soldiers are more than likely to look for you there."

Kommissar pulled herself up and limped away.

Maria looked back at her reflection to see that her eyes were blue again, and the crystal dagger was gone.

"Mephiles?" Maria asked.

No answer.

"Mephiles… What is the Grandmaster's plan?" The girl demanded, anger rising in her voice.

"I told you that I can't tell you that."

"You will, if you're going to take control of my body like that!"

Mephiles laughed. "My sweet little friend, if I hadn't taken control of your body, that dominatrix would have captured you for sure."

"You're crazy."

"I'm crazy? You're the one who is talking to a chaos emerald." Mephiles retorted, amused.

"A chaos emerald that is being manipulated by you. Why did you really want me to bring this here with me?"

"And what if I don't tell you?" Mephiles asked, sweetly.

"Then I take this emerald, and send it to the bottom of the fucking ocean." Maria threatened.

"That sounds harsh, especially for such a tender little thing like you. However, put this into perspective, you do realize that I am the reason you have been able to evade the Dark Legion for as long as you have?"

"Well…yes. But…"

"If you discard the emerald, to the bottom of the fucking ocean as you so well put it, you will be vulnerable. And you will most likely be back in the legion's custody within 48 hours."

"I'll be fine I don't need you!" Maria shot back.

"You really don't need me?"

"No…" Maria said, although she was rather unsure of herself. Something Mephiles knew and was going to take advantage of.

"Then I think you should hear this…"

Suddenly she could hear the sound of Kommissar's voice.

"Great Grandfather?" She said uncertainly.

"Did you find her?" A deep male's voice asked.

"Yes…but she got away."  
"Lien Da, I feel that you are not trying. The girl has been missing for days already. Just when your men found her, you let her escape."

"But Great Grandfather, that girl, she has some sort of powers! Her eyes were just this ominous dark green! And that crystallized dagger! And the shock wave! Tell me how you would explain that?!" Kommissar demanded, her voice was completely hysterical.

"Calm down, child. You're a high ranking member of the Dark Legion, not to mention from my direct bloodline." The Grandmaster sighed, with great disdain.

"Great Grandfather, you're not listening to a word I…!"

"Relax, child. The scientist's grandchild will not get away from me. If you or the soldiers do not have the competency to find her, then I will. And I can assure you, I will." The Grandmaster responded, coolly.

"Fine, Great Grandfather. But now I have absolutely no idea where that little freak is."

"I will take care of it, now leave me in peace."

"Yes, my lord."

Maria heard footsteps; it must have been Kommissar leaving the room that she must have been in.

"I'm going to find you, child. I can promise you that." The voices then died away.

Maria looked at the emerald in her hands for a rather long time. Her breathing had become quite deep from the information she had overheard from the Grandmaster and Kommissar's conversation. It was going to be too much for her alone… She needed Mephiles.

"I need you, Mephiles. I won't survive on my own." Maria finally said, her voice sounded completely defeated.

The girl suddenly felt the invisible hand run through her hair again.

"As I told you, I will never do anything to hurt you. I promise that I will do whatever I can to keep you safe." Mephiles soothed.

Maria just hoped that was true.

**And that's the fifth chapter. Mephiles is such an evil bastard (Which is why I love him so much)**

**Also I'm curious, If you all remember in chapter 3 with the shower scene. Who do you guys think did it? Mephiles, or the Grandmaster I'm really curious to see what you guys think. Chapter 6 is going to reveal that.**

**Until then, read and review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well it's been a rather long time since I updated this fic. Well I've been busy with a lot of things school, work, writers block. That and I've been hard at work on my Crash Bandicoot fanfictions. So I decided to get off my lazy ass and finally update this.**

**This chapter might be rocky with the grammer this time and I apologize if it's shaky, I am trying. Author BiteWorsethanBark had been going over the chapters with me, but she has other things she needs to take of, so I told her that she could sit this one out and I would try it on my own. But I still want to thank her regardless for helping me in anyway that she could, you're amazing. **

**Secondly, this chapter might be a little confusing in the beginning because it starts with one thing and then leads to another. At the time I liked how the chapter flowed, and I think you start to see Maria's mentality to an extent and she is seeing and believing. But, I'll let you guys be the judge.**

**Finally, from here on out, the fanfic is now at an M rating for violent gore, and language. This chapter gets very graphic so be warned.**

**Other than that. Enjoy this long awaited chapter.**

**Maria and Mephiles are owned by Sega. The Brotherhood of Guardians and The Dark Legion are owned by Archie comics.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

Under the Surface Chapter 6

Maria was walking down a heavily wooded back road. A map in her hands, a backpack on her back, and uneasy mind was all that she had with her.

According to the map that she was carrying; it said that the next city she was attempting to head to was about 15 miles from where she was now.

Maria figured that if she kept walking, maybe she would get to the next city by nightfall, maybe.

The sky above was as gray burned charcoal that had been burned for such a long time that it was rendered useless. The rain drizzled along the muddy path, leaving small little puddles.

Even with the drizzling rain, it was only just the beginning of summer with nothing but hot air around her. The white tank top and the baggy jeans she wore did not bring her relief from the humid air.

The girl hadn't looked at the emerald for the past several hours. From everything she heard from the Grandmaster, to the missing pieces from Mephiles; Maria really didn't know what to believe.

The small child looked up toward the trees; why couldn't she get to share this experience with Shadow? The two had always talked about all things that they were going to do when the day would finally come to go down to the planet that was just so beautiful to look.

Maria may have gotten her wish, but why wasn't the experience the way it should have been?

She couldn't relax on the beach, or run through a field of flowers. All she could do was runaway so the Dark Legion could not find her.

Maria groaned to herself as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Maria…" A deep voice echoed, calling the her name.

Maria was confused; that couldn't have been Mephiles, the emerald hadn't been glowing.

She looked down at the emerald, but the purple jewel had a dark green aura around it. When Mephiles was speaking to her, the emerald had a dark purple glow. If it wasn't Mephiles, then who was it?

"Maria…" The voice came again, now it sounded very familiar.

It was the Grandmaster. But how could he have it have been? The girl then remembered. The Grandmaster had supernatural natural powers.

"It's you!" Maria answered. Her voice was so quiet, almost no sound had come out at all.

"You've been running from me, I would like to know why."

"I don't need to tell you why! I don't have to tell you anything!" Maria spat back.

"I should've know by the tone of your voice; you must really hate me." The grandmaster said, casually.

Maria's expression was almost dumbfounded; if that wasn't obvious, then she didn't know what was.

"You poor child. You look so exhausted; your petty escape method is taking its effects on you."

"As long as I am faraway from you, then I don't care how tired I am." Maria growled.

"Does this have anything to do with what I had my legion do to your Grandfather's colony?" The Grandmaster asked, in mock surprise.

"You killed everybody! You made Shadow take the fall! Why...?! Why would you do something so cruel?!" Maria demanded, tears spilling from her eyes for the first time in days.

"Pitiful naïve child. You probably don't even know why Shadow was created."

"Grandfather said: he was supposed to bring peace and justice to all who lived on the planet."

The Grandmaster laughed at the girl's response.

"I'm afraid your Grandfather lied to you."

"No he didn't; he told me himself." Maria fought back.

"My dear child; that wasn't the reason."

"You weren't there! You never knew my Grandfather; you don't know anything that he did!" Maria snarled, angry tears spilling from her eyes.

"Your Grandfather wanted to create the ultimate life form for two reasons: to benefit everyone who lived on this planet, and to save you from your illness. His first attempt failed when he created the biolizard The creature had been forced to wear a life support to survive and was eventually sealed. It would be years before he would succeed, but he would need help. He struck a deal with Black Doom, the leader of an alien race called the Black Arms. If Shadow were to bring Black Doom the Chaos Emeralds to him when the Black Comet returned 50 years later, he would give Gerald his DNA for him to complete the project.  
What Gerald never realized however, was that Black Doom wanted to use the emeralds to seize control of the planet."

"Then if you know all that, then where's Shadow!? You were the reason why the ARK was destroyed!" Maria demanded, trying to calm herself down.

"I don't know where Shadow is. After all, you were the sole reason why my soldiers were unable to complete their mission." The grandmaster sighed with great disdain.

Maria remembered; her dying breaths, she sent Shadow to Earth in the last escape pod.

"The bond you and Shadow had was so strong, even I couldn't break it."

"You must know where he is; with your powers and all!" Maria answered, coldly.

"As much as I would to know the exact location as to where your precious Shadow is, I don't know. Ever since the ARK incident, the hedgehog has been lost."

Maria whimpered; her face was wet with tears. The Grandmaster was acting like what happened on the ARK was no big deal. It was like killing people was just a regular day for the Dark legion.

"Then, I want you to answer me this."

"What could I possibly answer for you?"

"Why were you after Shadow in the first place?" The girl asked.

"Why would I tell you that?"

"Because Shadow was my best friend; actually he was the only friend I ever really had in this world, but you had to take that away from me! So maybe that's why I want an answer as to why you did what you did!" Maria stated. "If you're not going to tell me and if Mephiles is not going to tell me, then who will!?"

"Perhaps you were never meant to discover the truth, child. Maybe you are destined to never learn what was to happen." The grandmaster answered in his sweet voice.  
"You… You monster! Why won't you leave me alone?!" The tiny girl demanded, her spirit completely broken.

The grandmaster laughed cruelly. "Poor child. I see you're completely broken and empty. Then again I'm not surprised; and now that I think about it. Did you enjoy that little show back at fishing port?'

Maria gasped. "That… That was you?!"

"Of course that was me. No, I had no plans to kill you; I did after all bring you back here. I only wanted to send you a little message."

Maria buried her hands into her face as heart wrenching sobs burst from her throat. She didn't know what was going on. Was she just the Grandmaster's plaything? Was he playing with her this entire time?  
"Come now, child. There's no need to cry." The grandmaster called to her in a soothing voice.

Maria didn't even answer; she remained still, clutching the emerald tightly in her hand. After what seemed like an eternity, she stuffed the emerald back into pocket, not caring if the Grandmaster or Mephiles was stalking her.

Hours drifted by as Maria finally managed to get to the next city just before the sun was about to set.  
Maria smiled softly to herself; even with her altercation with the Grandmaster, all the crying that had burst from her throat had lifted a large amount of weight off her shoulders, relieving her for the first time in days.

Maria pulled out the emerald to see the mysterious green aura had died; giving the assumption that the Grandmaster must have gotten bored with Maria's silence and went off somewhere else. There was no aura at all. For the first time, Maria could feel herself alone, and she was glad. For the first time in days, she could think for herself again.

Entering the city limits; Maria walked along the darkening roads, hunger nibbled at her stomach.

"I should probably look for something to eat." The girl thought to herself.

About a half an hour later, Maria came to a hamburger joint. Going inside, she ordered her food and sat down to eat.

As she ate, she wondered if what the Grandmaster had told her about Shadow's birth was true. Did her Grandfather make a bargain with an alien warlord, just to save her? The mere thought didn't sit right with the girl; if that was the main reason why her Grandfather did what he did, then Maria wouldn't be able to live with that over her head. Then again, her Grandfather had kept many secrets from her. From Shadow's creation, all the way to the death of her parents. Maria had begged her Grandfather to tell her the truth about her parents; no matter how hard it would be, she would except it. All she truly wanted was closure. Even then; her Grandfather would just tell her that they died in an accident. Now her Grandfather was lying about Shadow? To Maria; Shadow was more than just a project, he was her everything. She had every right to know the truth about him, it wasn't his choice to be mutated with alien's blood.

Maria's snapped up when she saw a group of older boys staring and pointing at her in way that made her very uncomfortable.

The girl slowly got up from her chair, walking out of the restaurant as quickly as possible.

She kept her head firmly on the ground as walked to the nearest hotel.  
After a good fifteen minutes, Maria turned her head to see if she was alone. Only to her horror, the older boys were following.

Maria turned her walk into a run as she continued; hoping she would lose the boys along the way. Only the boys started to run too. Feeling her heart pound, Maria tried swerving around one of the corners, but found more boys cutting off her escape.

She turned around quickly, praying that she would escape, but the boys were slowly closing in.

Desperate, she ran down an alley, hoping there was an escape on the other side. So it was fair to say Maria was horrified when she saw the dead end.

"What are you doing? You don't have anywhere to go." A tall boy with dark hair, obviously the leader of the group, laughed.

Maria pressed her body against the wall; it was almost as if she was back on the ARK, minutes before she was killed.

She would never realize that her emerald started to glow ominously in the darkness.

"What do you say guys; should we beat the shit out of her?" The leader asked.

"Yeah! Let's see how long it will take before she passes out." Another boy cheered.

The leader walked up to Maria before he punched her hard in the nose. Maria fell to the ground, blood gushing from her noise. The girl was in complete shock, her expression was blank.

"What the hell?! She got punched and she's just sitting there?!" The second boy growled. "Let's see how she likes this!"

The second boy kicked the girl hard in the ribs. Maria felt that attack as she laid on the ground, wincing in pain.

"Is that what you call a kick?" Another scoffed. "This is a kick!" The next boy kicked her in the stomach. Maria would have cried out, only crying was too painful.

Before she knew it, Maria was now nothing more than a punching bag. Each boy took their turn beating on her. Some of them used their hands, others found some pipes and would pound them on her body.

The young girl could only lie there as she slowly started to lose consciousness; which Maria was not against at this point, since it was slowly starting to delude the pain. So much blood was everywhere that Maria had to wonder how one could bleed so much.

Finally, Maria felt a pipe ram into head, knocking her out cold.  
"

I think's she's unconscious" Said the second boy.

The leader looked to see Maria still breathing.

"What do we do to the body?" Asked the third boy.

"We'll leave her here; if she wakes up, her memory will be so fucked up, she won't remember what we look like." The leader laughed. "Come on, let's hid up the all night arcade.

The boys all left laughing; leaving behind Maria's bloody body. The emerald glowing brightly by her side.  
A darkness swept over her; healing all of her broken bones and trauma that she might have faced. The only sign that one would see from the attack was her blood stained clothes.

After the recovery was complete, Maria's eyes opened. Only the were no longer her own. The blue eyes were now replaced with poison green. Maria was no longer in control. Now she was nothing but a hollow puppet. As if in a dark trance, Maria pulled herself off the ground.

The girl looked around to see if anyone was there. Her host could feel what happened to her; it could see how she was beaten and left behind to not realize the masterminds. Her host realized it was now time to raise up the volume.

The boys were talking about going to the arcade; and that's where the girl would go.

Maria walked down the darkened streets. Nothing but darkness swelled around her now green eyes. The people that were on the streets stared at the girl, immediately moving out of the way as she passed.

Maria ignored them; her focus was on getting to the arcade.

It wasn't long until the arcade was in her site. The girl's blank expression burned deeply as she slowly walked toward the building. From her haunting movements, one would think she was on a powerful narcotic, heroin or something along those lines.

Maria went inside the building. Inside, she found the older boys playing the tables. Behind the counter stood a much older man; looking almost frightened by her pale appearance. They were other people inside as well. Mostly college students, or people that were best not to make contact with, like felons or hookers.

Maria turned her attention toward the boys as she slowly walked towards them.

The leader rose his head up. When he saw her, he was almost shocked to see that there weren't any injuries on her body.

"What the… What the hell happened?! You were lying in an alley with a concussion!" The leader cried, almost terrified.

Maria looked at him, her face unchanging.

"I don't want any trouble here!" The older man warned.

Maria cocked her slightly; her green eyes bore into his. Frightening the man to his very core.

"Look, we were just kidding when we jumped you. It was all in good fun." The second boy laughed, nervously.

The girl slowly walked toward them; her teeth were barred, her bangs covering her eyes making her look like a demon that risen from the darkest pit of hell.

"Kid! If you don't stop, I'm going to call the police!" The man threatened.

By now, the crowd of other people walked toward the group, curious to see what was going to happen next.

"This girl is either fucked up from head trauma or she's on drugs, and I'm not going to see what she does... I'M CALLING THE POLICE!" The man screamed.

Just as the man was about to reach for the phone, Maria slowly turned her head towards him. From her hands, the crystallized dagger began to take form. The man attempted to run away to the back, but the girl threw the dagger right at his throat, pinning him to the wall.

Everyone screamed in horror as the man feebly tried to pull the dagger out. Blood was rushing out of him like a waterfall. Not even 2 minutes later, the man was dead.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! WHO THE FUCK IS THIS GIRL?!" One of the bystanders, screamed.

Maria then raised her hand; the sound of locks echoed all around them. The girl had locked all the doors, making it very clear nobody was leaving, alive.

From her hands, two more daggers took form. And without hesitating, Maria threw them at two bystanders, killing them instantly.

Everyone screamed as they scattered around, trying to find an escape. But no matter what door they went to, all the doors had been bolted shut. Leaving them all to die, one by one.

One hooker had been caught in the girls grasp. The female tried to pry the girl off of her, but Maria's strength had multiplied, thanks to her host. And with a swift movement, she broke the hooker neck, dropping her body to the ground.

Maria then slammed her fist on one the glass panels; breaking it into a thousand glass shards. Picking up one piece at a time, Maria threw the shards at anyone who was unfortunate enough to be in her vision. All the hits were fatal. One struck a bystander in between the eyes. One hit another in the chest. Another was lodged in the throat. Some even hit multiple places.

Everyone inside was dropping like flies; blood was dripping everywhere, staining everything it touched. The death and blood brought pure delight to the host as it commanded Maria's body to finish the job.  
Now only one body remained, the leader of the very group of boys that jumped her in the first place.

Maria walked around the facility in cold pursuit of the teenager. It wouldn't be very longer until she found him cowering in a corner in the very back.

"No! Please?! I'm sorry! I promise I'll do anything you tell me if you let me live!" The tough boy was now nothing but a groveling child, begging for mercy.

Maria looked at him with a blank expression as she walked up to him, forcing him to stand.

"If you kill me…! You won't be any better than me…! You already killed everyone else! So if you have any form of humanity left in you, then have mercy on me!"

The girl looked blank before she spoke in a voice that did not belong to her.

"Mercy is for the weak."

The boy screamed when Maria punched through his chest, pulling out his bloody heart, that's beating was slowly dying way.

The boy's eyes slowly closed as he looked the girl with a never dying horror.

Maria caved to her knees as the host slowly let go of her body. Her eyes were blue again and her consciousness was slowly restored. Only the girl had no idea of what had happened.

Maria looked around confused of her surroundings; wondering how she even got there in the first place when she saw the bloody heart in her hand.

The girl's eyes widened in horror when she turned to see the dead body in front of her. The girl slowly processed what must have happened. The frightened child screamed as she looked at her shaking hands. She ran away from the body going back to the front of the arcade, only to be greeted by more mangled dead bodies. Blood was all over her body. Blood was all over the victims. Maria knew in her heart she killed them. She killed living beings, and she didn't even realized it until it was far too late.

Maria sank to her knees; tears were streaming down her face, and her sobs were so heart wrenching, she could barely speak, let alone breathe.

What had happened? What caused her to black out and murder everyone there? Was it the head trauma, or for a brief second, did she just snap?

Maria noticed lodged into the man's throat the crystallized dagger. It didn't take very long for her to realize who had caused her to do all this.

"Mephiles…?!" Maria barely managed to cry out.

No answer.

"Mephiles…please to talk to me!"

No answer.

Maria curled into the fetal position; rocking herself back and forth as she cried and screamed.

There was something Mephiles was not telling her; there was something he wanted, and he was more that willing to use her to get.

The sounds of sirens blared everywhere. Maria pulled herself up and ran out the back door, running as far away as she could get.

She had to calm down; she had get the blood off of her. But most of all, she had to think about what to do next.

**Didn't this chapter take such a dark turn. I even got chills at the parts when Mephiles was using Maria's body to murder everyone. Hopefully this chapter didn't confuse anyone. But, if you have any questions, send me a pm if you want.**

**Until next time, Read and Review.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well everyone, I'm back. And I have another dark chapter for you.**

**I would like to Thank Lordoftheghostking and BiteWorseThanBark for giving me ideas to get this chapter off the ground. It really helped and I loved how it turned out.**

**Not much else to say but enjoy.**

**Maria and Mephiles are owned by Sega. The Dark Legion and the Brotherhood of Guardians are owned by Archie comics.**

**Enjoy (Laughs evilly)**

* * *

Chapter 7

Running...

Breathing...

Crying...

Sirens...

Pain...

Air getting thicker...

No where to run...

"ON YOUR KNEES! GET ON THE GROUND!" The officer said, tackling the tiny bloody child to the ground.

Maria lied there as the officers put the tight handcuffs on her. Nothing seemed to stay constant. It almost seemed that she would go in and out of a catatonic state and her vision would fade in and out; almost as if she were trapped in a thriller movie.

Before she would even realize it, Maria found herself sitting inside the Police station. Cops and investigators did nothing but berate her with questions from: why she was running away from the crime scene to why she was covered in blood?

All she would do was sit silent, clutching the chaos emerald tightly within her palm.

"You do realize even at your age, you're looking at life with no parole?" The head investigator demanded, harshly.

Maria looked at the ground, all of this seemed like a bad nightmare. A nightmare where she couldn't even wake up.

"I'm going to grab coffee. When I come back; maybe you'll be a little more cooperative." The middle aged man stormed off.

Maria slammed her fist against her bloodstained jeans. Why? Why was this happening? Why did it have be her?

"What did I do that was so wrong?" Maria asked herself, tears leaking down her chapped cheeks.

"My, my, you've made quite a mess here." A somehow familiar voice echoed through her ears.

Maria looked down to see the purple emerald emitting a dark green glow.

"Go away!" Maria threatened.

"You're not in the position to threaten me, little one." The grandmaster remarked.

"Go away!" She threatened again.

"The blood is still on your hands. That's all the proof they need. You'll die in jail."

"I didn't do it... Mephiles made me... He used my body!" Maria protested.

"Whose going to believe you... That story might even get you locked up in the asylum. That's an even worse place for little girls like you."

"You know I'm innocent don't you?" Maria asked, wanting to slap herself across the face to gain a witness from the grandmaster.

"I could help you, you know. I can drive Mephiles out of you and you'll never have to deal with him again."

"At what cost?!" Maria demanded.

"All you would have to do is give up on your little resistance, and come back to headquarters like a good little girl." The grandmaster's voice was so low, Maria found it almost disturbing.

"Fuck you!" Maria snarled.

"I take it that's a no." The Grandmaster sighed.

"I'm better off the way I am now, than with you... I would be betraying everyone I knew on the ARK!"

"Well then, good luck with police and the demon inside you. But, don't forget, child. I will never stop looking for you. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, I will somehow be there." The green aura from the emerald died away. Maria was alone again, for now.

The door opened to show the head investigator and two cops walk into the room.

"Now then, maybe you'll give us all the answers we need." The investigator demanded rudely.

"What could I possibly tell you?" Maria demanded.

"Why were you running from that arcade? And why were you covered in blood. All those people were lying in pools of their own blood; so what more is there to say?!"

"I don't remember anything; all I remember was that I was being beaten in an alley until I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in the arcade covered in blood. I got scared and ran away." Maria protested.

"So you don't remember any of the murders?"

"No, I would never do anything like that! I'm not a murderer!"

Maria failed to notice the emerald was emitting the ominous glow once again.

"I find your story hard to believe. You don't have any broken bones or fractures. Care to explain that" Miss "I was beaten in an alley"?"

Maria suddenly felt as if her body was on fire. The last time that had happened was when she had her altercation with Kommissar. Then that meant...

"Mephiles...don't make me...please... I don't want to hurt them...! Maria mentally begged.

A dark cruel laugh echoed threw her head.

"Would you rather go to jail?"

"No! I won't do it... It's my body, and I said no!" Maria tried to fight back.

"Believe me, my sweet little friend, you'll be thanking me later." With that the mental fire turned into a thousands stabbing swords. Maria almost immediately lost control of her body. Her eyes were again green.

"What the hell...?! What's with your eyes?!" The first cop demanded.

"You want to know something? There is an art form to death. The way most people do it is so cliché. Which is why I love to... PUMP UP THE VOLUME!" Maria found herself, laughing.

"I didn't say that!" Maria thought.

The girl then broke free from her handcuffs. A demented smile formed on her face.

"I'm a prisoner in my own body! Mephiles is using me to kill people! GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!" The girl mentally screamed.

Mephiles, now in full control, walked towards the three men, who had looks of pure horror written all over them.

"Your just a little girl! Where is all of this strength coming from?! The investigator demanded, in fear.

Mephiles waved his hand as three crystal daggers appeared.

"They come from the deepest pits hell, which is where you three will be going!"

Laughing, Mephiles threw each of the daggers, all of them pinning each man by the throat.

As they were dying, the men looked at the possessed girl.

"Does it hurt? I bet it does. But, it'll hurt even worse in hell." Mephiles giggled, with Maria's voice.

Everyone in the station was watching outside the window, almost in a frozen trance.

"That reminds me..." Mephiles raised his hand locking all the doors. "We can't have anybody getting out of here, that would just complicate things.

Mephiles slowly walked out of the room towards all the frightened people.

"So..." He asked, another dagger forming in his hands. "Who wants to die first?"

As if on cue, everyone immediately tried to find a way out.

"They always want to make it so difficult, such a pity. Oh well, I do enjoy playing the cat and mouse game."

Mephiles shot an energy spears towards the sealing, knocking down one of the large pillars. The pillar came down so fast, the 30 people that were scattering around never saw it coming, leaving only a bloody.

Walking towards a large glass door, Mephiles shattered it into millions of lethal pieces. Waving his hand again, he sent the pieces flying everywhere. Every single hit there target. No matter where it would land. Some hit people backs. Others hit there Throats. Some would even get caught within the eyes. Wherever they would go however, they would be deadly and they would be bloody.

Like the arcade, the police station had become nothing but a slaughterhouse. All bodies were swatted in less than 20 minutes.

Whoever wasn't killed by the pillar or the shards; met there end in different ways.

Someone was shoved down the stairs, breaking their head open. Someone else was fell from a platform. Any else had their neck broken, or a dagger thrown at them.

Mephiles shivered with delight as the smell of death and blood filtered around him. He loved it more than anything, so much so; one would wonder if he was having orgasm over it.

After some more time, it was done. Mephiles had killed everyone in the station. Blood was dripping, everywhere.

Mephiles chuckled sinisterly when he realized Maria was conscious the whole entire time. She witnessed everything, and it was her body that had done it.

With the thought in mind, Mephiles gave the traumatized girl back her body.

Maria sank down to her knees. She saw everything, there was no doubt; Mephiles had used her. He killed everyone, thanks to her.

"Mephiles... Why? Why did you make me do this?" Maria was shocked that she wasn't crying.

"Had I not killed all these people, who knows what would of happened; you could have been sent to jail and then the legion would have surrounded you. Plus with no witnesses, the police will not be able to track you down. I made sure to destroy any evidence of the arcade. I'm only looking out for your best interest.

"But, it feels so wrong, and so evil." Maria whimpered.

"Sometimes evil is the only solution."

Maria sat there. She knew deep in her heart, there was something Mephiles was not telling her. And at that moment, she wasn't even sure if she better off this way, or with the Grandmaster.

"Hurry and get yourself out of here. You to need to discard your clothes." The aura died away.

Maria tried to force herself to move, but she stayed still. Where would she go, what would she do, she couldn't escape the two entites haunting her. Both pure evil, both wanting something from. But, she couldn't decide who was worse.

"It's inevitable, child. You're in a no win situation. You can only escape one of us. So who will you chose?" She thought she heard the Grandmaster laugh.

Maria found herself standing up. Looking at the bloodstained station one last time before running away.

"I don't know which to chose, but that doesn't mean I can try to escape from both of you!

Maria ran down the alley, disappearing into night. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to go. But, she would get by, she always did.

**Did you like it? Was it creepy? Did Mephiles and the Grandmaster make your skin crawl. Let me know via Review or PM. DUECES!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's the next chapter. Again I would to thank lordoftheghostking27 and BiteWorseThanBark for helping me get this chapter off the ground,**

**I don't any characters in this story**

* * *

It had been about a week since the incidents at the arcade and the police station. During that entire time, Maria had locked herself inside a hotel room.

Maria had hidden there for many different reasons; the first was she wanted to lay low, just in case the police or the legion was looking for her. The second reason was so that the Grandmaster, or Mephiles would not have any reason to communicate with her through the emerald. But above all, she was hiding from herself. Hiding from all the pain and misery that was constantly surrounding her ever since, well ever since her time on the ARK.

Maria had lived on the ARK ever since she was a baby. The idea had come from her Grandfather when he had claimed he could come up with a cure for her illness.

Maria's parents, her mother in particular, honestly did not believe Gerald could come up with a cure, but they agreed to bring the little baby up to space colony. The colony had no affect on Maria's disease and she could live up there like normal.

Days had turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Gerald was very optimistic and believed he could come up with a cure, but would need time to tell him. Maria's parents however, had completely given up hope. They would look at their beautiful baby girl and would see her trapped in a space colony for the rest of her life. The mere thought only served to break their hearts; they were failing their daughter, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Eventually, Maria's parents told Gerald they were going down to Earth to spend sometime alone. Her parents needed a break, they needed to get away from their pain and suffering.

Not even a week later, Gerald had received a message that his daughter and his son-in-law had been found dead in an almost completely destroyed car. The police had believed that the car wreck killed them instantly; and so Gerald's daughter and her husband left behind a six month old Maria.

Maria grew up on the ARK very lonely; all the other children that were onboard, treated Maria like an outcast and made fun of her. The young girl had a nanny to watch over her while her Grandfather was busy with all of his experiments, but the woman was cold and unfeeling, only supervising Maria's nutrition, education, and well-being. She made it clear that she did not feel anything else but that.

All Maria had to keep her sane was her books. She loved when she had her nose in a book; she could go on many different adventures. From flying to Neverland, to waiting for Prince charming to come and save her. They were only thing she had to escape from the cold reality that she was fatally ill, her parents were gone, the children on the ARK treated her like an infection, and her Grandfather was too busy to pay attention to her.

When she wasn't reading, Maria would gaze out the window, looking down the beautiful blue planet they called Earth. It's mere appearance was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Oh how she wished she could go down there and visit all of those beautiful places for herself. She wanted nothing more but to swim in the deep blue Ocean. Run around in a rich green meadow, filled with nothing but beautiful flowers around her. But above all, she wanted to feel the gentle wind through her hair, and the warm sunshine against her skin.

But, with all the circumstances that were surrounding her, those dreams seemed so far away. All she could do was wait; wait for a miracle to come and save the day.

Years later, Maria finally found a life raft in her cold lonely world. The life raft would come in the form of her Grandfather's most prized creation; Project Shadow the Hedgehog.

Almost in an instant, the two had become inseparable; never leaving each others side, not even for one minute. In their days, Maria and Shadow would have adventures together in their books; from fighting pirates, to finding buried treasure. Other times they would almost be accidentally blowing up the kitchen; especially when Maria would develop a crazy plan on how to boil an egg in less than 3 minutes.

But, their favorite thing to do was looking out the window, discussing all the things they would do once they got to the planet; because when Shadow had come into her life, hope had come with him.

Only this was not meant to last. That fateful day had to come; the Grandmaster had to ruin everything, he had to send the Dark Legion after Shadow. The Legion had to kill everyone onboard as they made their way to the ultimate lifeform.

Only Maria would not let that happen; with her dying breaths she managed to incase Shadow in the last remaining escape pod. She had sent him to the safety of the beautiful planet they always dreamed of visiting together, with a promise that no matter what happened, Shadow would bring peace and happiness to all that lived there.

Now here she was; frightened and alone, no one to run to and no place she could call safe.

Maria lay in bed, the hotel's tv was set on a cooking show that she was barely paying attention to.

She tilted her head to the window shutting out everything by the dark curtains.

Her experience on the planet was nothing like she wished; if she could, she would trade it all for one more day with Shadow. Just one last day with her best friend; just to hang on to him tightly, apologize for any fights the two may have had, and tell him how much she appreciated him. The mere thought of the useless wish brought tears to her eyes once again.

She briskly brushed them away as she made her way to the window. Pulling the back the curtains, Maria could see that for the first time she had come here, that the sun had come out.

Without even thinking about it, Maria slid on her sneakers and dashed out of her room. The young girl stood on the sidewalk, letting the warm sun bathe against her pale skin.

Maria found herself laughing, the sun seemed to heal her wounds; it was if the bright star was her second life raft.

The young took off running down the street; not wanting the warmth to fade away, not even for one second. She smiled and laughed as she ran; nothing seemed to matter anymore, one of her wishes was actually coming true, the beautiful sunlight was just as she imagined it. Now she wanted to make sure it would never end. Her happiness had left her so distracted that she was completely startled when she felt someone grab her arm.

Maria was about to give the person a piece of her mind, until she noticed it was Spectre.

"Where in God's name have been you been?! I've been worried sick about you!" The towering echidna glowered, making him look much more menacing than when she first met him.

"I've been around." Maria lied, not wanting him to discover the two bloodbathes that had taken place.

"Around?! You take off without giving me an explanation, and you've been around?!" The blacked echidna demanded, incredulous.

"I guess." She answered, not even able to look Specte in the eye.

Spectre took a few deep breaths to keep his temper under control.

"You look pale, and it looks like you dropped a few pounds. Have you been eating?" Spectre asked.

Maria felt her stomach growling. From all that time that she spent in the hotel room, she hadn't even eaten. Only drinking water, the girl was amazed that her body hadn't gotten sick yet.

Spectre's face softened a little.

"Are you in any sort of trouble? If you tell me, then I'll be able to help you."

Maria shook her head, forcifully.

"I'm not in any trouble. I'm all right."

"Well we will you at least join me for dinner?" Spectre asked.

"I guess I could." Maria said, almost as if it was Shadow and not the guardian that was asking her.

Walking behind him, Maria couldn't help but think she was developing a sense of deja vu. Especially when Maria was gripping onto Shadow tightly when they were trying to escape from the Dark Legion.

Was this a sign; was this movement the two were in a sign of another tragedy?

It wasn't very long until the two were in front of the restaurant.

Walking inside, Maria followed the guardian to the table. The whole entire time, Maria found herself staring at the ground; she couldn't even look at the guardian that had tried to reach out to her.

"Are you going to say anything to me?" Spectre asked, angrily.

Maria kept her eyes down.

"You're not leaving here until you give a proper explanation as to what is going on."

"If I told you what was going on, you probably wouldn't believe me." Maria said, quietly.

"I'll be the judge of that." Spectre responded, rather crossly.

Maria breathed deeply. "Well, you probably won't believe me but, I have this chaos emerald that is possessed, and is slowly starting to possess me."

"Really?" Spectre asked, looking incredulous.

"Look I know how this sounds, but I'm telling you the truth; I found this chaos emerald after I ran away from the orphanage. Ever since then, I hear voices in my head and I sometimes lose control of my body."

"Marra, that doesn't make any since. The emerald is talking to you and telling to do things, something about that doesn't sound right."

"You really think I'm making this up?! I wish I was, I really wish this all was a joke. But, it's the true and the being has a name. His name's Mephiles and he's slowly taking control of my body!"

Spectre didn't say a word.

"You don't believe me, do you?! You think I'm crazy!" Maria cried, anger rising in her voice.

"Marra, it seems to me that you are showing signs of schizophrenia. And from the circumstances that you told me, the death of your parents and how you were unhappy in the orphanage, I believe that definitely have the illness."

"I'm telling you the truth; I'll prove it to you." Maria took out the emerald.

"Mephiles, will you say something?" She asked.

No answer.

"Mephiles, please say something?!" Maria begged.

No answer.

"Mephiles, I'll do anything you want, just please say something!"

Again, no answer.

"He's fucking with me; he knows I need him and he's fucking me over!" Maria said, horrified.

"Marra, I think you need professional help." Spectre said, quietly.

"That's not true, please believe me! I need you and the guardians to help me!"

"Your problem is something only doctors can help you with."

"Spectre... Please...you're the only one I can trust... Can't you just put logic aside for one minute, and consider that I may have something within me?" Maria said, looking the guardian in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I can't..."

Maria lowered her head when she when she heard Mephiles' cruel laughter. Her eyes widened in horror.

"Did you hear that now?!" Maria demanded.

"I didn't hear anything." Spectre answered.

"You didn't hear that laughter, that disturbing evil laughter?!" The girl said, slowly loosing her cool.

"No Marra, I didn't hear anything!" Spectre said, angrily.

"But...but..." The laughter again rang inside her mind.

"SHUT UP!" Maria screamed.

The people in the restaurant slowly stared at her, eyes wide.

"Marra, I really think I should take to a doctor. I'm only saying this because it's the best thing for you." Spectre said, gently.

"No!" Maria said, angrily. "I'm not crazy!"

"I didn't say you were crazy, but I do think you think you need help."

"I can't go to the doctor, I'll be vulnerable there, they'll come and take me away.

"Please let me take you to a doctor; I'll stay with you if they have to run some tests."

Maria knew this was a battle she wasn't going to win. If she went to that hospital or stayed here any longer, there would be another bloodbath.

"I'm sorry but, goodbye." Maria got up and slowly started walking away.

"Marra, get back here!" Spectre called after her.

"I'm sorry!" Maria said softly before she began to run.

When she was on the streets again, the sun was now gone and the rain had come again, the world was nothing but grey.

Maria continued running, not even looking back to see if Spectre was chasing her.

She finally got back to the hotel and quickly locked the door, drenched from the rain.

She lowered her head. She never felt lonelier then she did right now. Her thoughts weren't safe, her every move wasn't safe. When she associated with others she wasn't safe. Mephiles and the Grandmaster were doing everything in there power to pull her farther away from everyone.

In this world she was living in there was nothing, nothing but the cold dark grey.

**Sorry if there was no bloodbath in this chapter. That's what the next chapter will be for. Until then read and review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Well everybody here's the next chapter. There's another bloodbath and a very dark psychological scene between Maria and the Grandmaster and well it's starting to become apparent that Maria is not in her right mind.**

**Also how Mephiles got into the limbo and how he made the connection with Maria is explained a little more here.**

**Lastly, I changed how Edmund dies slightly. I felt this would have much more of an impact if this was how it played out, but that's what fanfiction is for I guess.**

**Again I still haven't relieved the Grandmaster's identity yet. And I plan to keep a secret until the final chapters, which will about maybe in about 2 or 3 more chapters. If you know The Grandmaster's identity again please do not spoil it for those who haven't read the comics. But if you believe you already know, you may send me a pm to prove if your right or not. Other than that no spoilers**

**I own nothing**

* * *

Maria continued to stare at the corner of the room as she didn't hadn't moved from her spot when she had returned to the hotel earlier that evening.

She slowly tilted her head to the window to see through the curtains that the sun had finally gone down; only darkness could be found outside of the window. Maria laughed with such bitterness in her voice at the irony.

Maria continued to laugh bitterly as she thought about what had happened earlier. Spectre had not believed her when she had tried to tell him about what was happening to her. Mephiles was slowly gaining more and more control over her body and there wasn't anything she could do about it. The emerald was now her enemy an enemy that was continuing to weigh her down.

Mephiles was indeed a problem for yes but the fact of the matter was, there was still another that was watching her. The Dark Legion's wicked Grandmaster. Through his powers, he was stalking Maria through the corrupted chaos emerald. The Grandmaster was more than well aware of what was going on. He knew very well that Mephiles' influence was spreading through her; even going far as to offer Maria a way out the mess she was in trapped in. However, she would have to surrender and return to the legion in return. And well, considering all the pain the necromancer had caused her, that was something she really did not want to do. Leaving Maria trapped in between 2 evils.

Maria stood up from her sitting position; there had to be something she could do to get them off her back and out of her head. Then she remembered when she had tried to threaten Mephiles the first time.

"I told you I'd send you to the bottom of the fucking ocean. Do you remember that, you twisted fuck?!" Maria smiled insanely, tears streaming down her face.

If Mephiles was listening, he didn't answer.

"Now you don't want to talk to me, do you?" Maria continued.

Nothing.

"Why did you pick me? What was so special about a girl with an incurable illness; a girl if she hadn't been killed would've been trapped on the ARK, forever?" Her voice started fading.

Nothing.

"Fine! Don't answer me! I like it better when you don't talk!" Maria snarled.

The girl walked into the bathroom, turning on the facet. Maria splashed cold water onto her face, the water felt like tiny little knives stabbing into her flesh. She immediately turned the water off and dried off her face. Her body felt more and more sensitive to everything around her; even water sometimes felt like a weapon.

Maria could feel the hot tears continue to run her face. She knew was no longer sane; she had lost her sanity ever since she woke up the Legion's headquarters, everything else was just the tip of the iceberg.

Maria banged her fists against the sink, she wanted nothing but sweet release to the torment she was suffering; to escape the cold reality and return to what she was, sick and naïve; she had been better in the long run.

"Shadow... What went wrong? What went wrong?" Maria sobbed.

"You poor helpless child. I think it is more than safe to say that you've ultimately hit bottom." The Grandmaster's voice was like rusted metal dipped in the sweetest honey.

"Leave me alone!" Maria begged.

"My dear precious child, I only want to help you, but you're just not letting me." The Grandmaster said, gently.

"I don't want your help." Maria growled.

"Let's not tell lies, Maria; you need me more than you realize. Mephiles is gaining more and more control; soon you won't be able to stop him at all."

"I'll take my chances!" Maria spat.

"You will, will you?" The Grandmaster asked, amused.

"Yeah, I'll never submit to you! NEVER!"

The Grandmaster laughed.

"It's really amusing for you to put on such a brave little face; even after I've witnessed all of your meltdowns after Mephiles had you perform those massacres."

"What are you implying?" Maria asked.

"Did you even notice none of my legionnaires have been after you, lately?"

"Why?" Maria asked, feeling rather nervous.

"They're horrified of you. They all know about the massacres and none of them want to witness what you'll do next."

"But..."

"Believe me when I say this child, I have the ability here and now to terminate the connection that you foolishly created with Mephiles; just so you could remember."

"But..."

"Yes my evil little thing, you were the one who brought him here. You are ultimately the one who is responsible for everything." The Grandmaster, laughed cruelly at the girl's horrified expression.

"I didn't know...! I never would've have agreed if I knew then what I know now! You know that don't you?" Maria whimpered in a tiny voice.

"Even though it wasn't deliberate, the blood is still the same. You still are the one with the blood on your hands. Blood that only I can wash away. So child. What will you choose?"

Maria stared at the emerald before a dark glare formed on her face.

"I'm going to choose what I should have done a long time ago!"

Grabbing the emerald, Maria ran out the door and down the stairs. She continued running until she reached the city's port.

She slowed her run to walk as made her way to the edge of the port.

Once she reached the edge, she held the emerald in her hands.

"Once I get rid of this emerald, I'll be free; I'll be able to think for myself again." Maria breathed.

"You won't be free for long; my legion will be on the hunt for you." The Grandmaster said.

"Then I'll just have to evade them by myself. I'll ultimately been on my own this whole time anyway."

"Goodbye Maria, we'll meet face to face very soon."

Without anymore hesitation, Maria threw the emerald as far as she could into the water; watching as it disappeared into the depths below.

Maria felt a smile tug on her face; it was over, Mephiles could no longer control her body.

She turned and made her way back to the hotel. The legionnaires would be on her tail soon, but she figured she would get some well earned rest before she moved on to the next city.

As she made her back, Maria felt her stomach growl. She saw a fast food restaurant just in her view and decided she would get something to eat.

As she made her way inside she saw the rather large crowd for how late it was.

"Hey blondie, what are you doing out late at night all by yourself?" A rather creepy looking man asked her, smirking.

"I just wanted something to eat." Maria answered, not really in the mood into attracting creeps.

"Why don't you come sit with us?" He said, pointing to his even creepier looking friends.

"I would rather not, thank you." Maria spat, her head suddenly started to throb.

"Come on; why so shy?" The man made a grab for her arm.

"Get your hands off me!" Maria snarled, her voice seemed much lower and menacing.

"What the?! Where did that come from?" The man demanded.

"Maria can never do anything on her own; so naturally I have to do everything for her." Mephiles had managed to latch himself onto Maria's shadow as power continued to increase. Now it wouldn't be much longer until he would fully escape. The emerald had done nothing to free her. And sneakily, Mephiles had possessed her, ready for another bloodbath.

"What?! So what are you then?!"

"You could call me her second personality. A personality that has to correct mistakes, if you understand what I mean." Mephiles explained, coolly.

"You seem rather kinky. I like that in girls." The man said.

"So you like kinky girls, huh?" Mephiles said, smiling eerily.

"You easily read my mind."

A crystallized dagger suddenly appeared in Mephiles' hand.

"Well then, let's see if you can handle this!" Mephiles then lodged the dagger into the man's throat.

Blood squirted everywhere. The man crumpled to the ground looking at the possessed girl in horror as he slowly died away.

Mephiles smiled at him.

"Don't worry, there's a spot in hell waiting for you."

"The group of people watching the horror take place, immediately started their way to the exits. Only to hear the horrifying sounds of the locks, locking them inside, with nowhere to run or hide.

"Why do you all have the sudden urge to leave? The fun's only just begun."

Two more daggers appeared in Mephiles' hands. With an evil smile, he threw them at two unfortunate bystanders, nailing them both in the head.

Mephiles noticed a boy trying to break through window to escape. Walking up to him, he grabbed the boy and threw him with all his might at the window. The crashing sound of this boys skull brought such pleasure to Mephiles as he laughed insanely.

Mephiles jumped behind the counter and notices some rather sharp knives. Picking them up he threw every single one at anyone that was unfortunate enough to be the knives path. Everyone of the knives hate their target in a fatal spot.

Two women to tried to run out back when Mephiles grabbed them and led them toward the fryers and slowed lowered towards boiling oil.

"NO!" The women screamed and begged.

"Oh yes! Let's see how long it will take until your faces are cooked."

Mephiles shoved them in face and watched as the women's struggles slowly died away. After a good 2 minutes, he lifted them both up to see their faces had completely burned away, with looks of agony frozen on what was left.

He then grabbed a large pole in the corner and stabbed it all the way through three people that were trying to get passed him unnoticed.

Mephiles laughed as the bodies continued to drop like flies. He could feel himself becoming more and more powerful. It was only a matter of time until he would have enough strength to unlatch himself from Maria's body. Then he would bring nothing but darkness to those who had come across him.

Mephiles threw more of his daggers, when he remembered how he came to be in the grey limbo.

No one exactly knew where Mephiles come from. Some believed he was a hedgehog that had studied his craft for years to come. Others believed he had simply been born from the darkness of the shadows. Whatever the origin may have been, Mephiles was indeed a creature of great evil.

The creature of darkness had made it has goal in life to cause nothing but destruction, until nothing was left. The spilling of blood brought him so much pleasure.

Only the extent his powers although indeed were powerful, were not enough to satisfy him. So he went and looked for the very vessels that would increase his powers, the Chaos Emeralds.

However this would prove to be difficult to no end. Mephiles had come learn of the Master Emerald and their guardian, Edmund.

Edmund saw right away what lied beneath Mephiles and made it clear that he would not let him have the emeralds.

Mephiles had quickly learned that Edmund had the Emeralds guardian after an experiment had gone horribly wrong. Edmund had absorbed the power of Chaos Emeralds and had the ability to use there power, however his older brother had absorbed the power of the Master Emerald becoming a living and breathing Master Emerald. Not only that, the newfound power corrupted him and vowed to bring the echidnas and humans into eternal darkness.

This tore the two brothers apart bringing the two at a devastating war. One for freedom, the other for power and destruction.

And it was in between this conflict, Mephiles had come in.

The battle was long and agonizing, Mephiles had given it his all and even managed to weaken the guardian severely, but Edmund had just enough power to defeat the creature of darkness.

Mephiles had promised Edmund that he would one day return to the world of the living and that his life would come to an end.

As Mephiles was transported to the grey limbo he heard the final confrontation between Edmund and his brother.

Edmund was very weak from the battle with Mephiles, and his brother knew it.

"It looks like that demon had gotten the better of you." The guardian's brother laughed.

"Brother please, don't do this. Your quest for power will cause nothing but pain and destruction." Edmund begged.

"You're nothing but a weakling, little brother. You'll always be weak. I will not stop until the Dark Legion rules all."

"Why... Why did you let power do this to you? Our powers are a curse."

"On the contrary, little brother, I find my powers to be the best thing that ever happened to me. It's a pity you never felt the same way." The Grandmaster said.

"You won't get away with it, something will stop you!"

The sound of a energy blast filtered the air.

"But, I already did Edmund, I already did." The voices had died away.

Mephiles laughed when heard Edmund's death. All he would have to do is what until he could find a way to escape the limbo.

Many years later would be his chance. Maria had come and because her heart was so pure, Mephiles was able to form the connection with her slowly, slowly regaining his power.

Mephiles came back to the present when he saw all the bodies lying dead on the ground. Blood was dripping all over his hands. A demented smile was plastered all over his face.

"You thought you could get rid of me so easily, didn't you?" Mephiles taunted, as he slowly gave Maria back her body.

Maria breathed deeply as she saw the blood all over her body.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Maria sobbed.

"I'm not letting you go, not until I have enough power to break away from your body. Until then, you belong to me."

"But I dont' like killing people. It's wrong. You're making take people's lives, you're making me murder. I don't want to be a murderer. Please stop it!" Maria begged.

"Marra!" Spectre's voice came from behind.

Maria turned to face the guardian, her body covered in blood.

"What have you done?!" The guardian demanded.

Maria looked at the echidna's expression. The look was upset her so much, it almost as if Shadow was staring at her. Staring at her like she was a monster. Making her realize what would Shadow be thinking if he saw her now.

Tears flowed from her eyes; Spectre had seen everything, there was no denying it. It was also apparent that he would never look at her the same way again; he would only see a girl with a murderous glint in her eyes.

"I guess you know now?" Maria said, quietly.

"What did you bring here?" Spectre demanded.

"I don't know...I just wanted to remember. I wanted to remember everything." Maria stated.

"Marra, I'm going to give you one chance to explain to me what's going on."

"If I told you the truth, you still would look at me the same way. I have nothing else to lose."

"Marra, I want answers, right now!" Spectre growled.

"I could tell you a million times, you still wouldn't understand."

Maria slowly walked out the back.

"For what it's worth Shadow, I'm sorry. Please don't hate me." Maria walked out the door.

**Incase you are all wondering. Maria does call Spectre Shadow. Because when she sees the look on his face she believes its Shadow and she feels the black hedgehog is looking at her with betrayal. And she's talking mainly to Shadow wherever he may be begging him not to hate her. Maria's sanity is pretty much dwindling away.**

**The fic is starting to wind down. Mephiles is only going to be in about 2 more chapters and then the finale. I'm debating whether or not I should make a sequel. Mephiles would not be in it but do you guys still think I should? Read and Review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Long time no see my loyal little readers. In this chapter, Maria finally decides what she thinks she can do to drive Mephiles away from her. It's not the longest but I really liked where I went with it. Other than that I really don't much to say**

**I own nothing**

* * *

Days, it had been days since Maria had even seen any light at all. What was the point; even if she stood out in the bright sunlight, there would still be nothing but darkness. All the light was gone, and it was never coming back.

Maria sat in the waterless bathtub; her blue eyes had nothing behind them. She couldn't cry anymore, she couldn't scream anymore, she couldn't feel anything anymore. All she was now was a hollow shell, and honestly she didn't care.

Maria felt herself laughing bitterly again, she was all by herself and somehow through everything, she was fine with it.

As long as she was alone, Mephiles had no reason to bother her. Still she was constantly thinking about how she was going to get Mephiles out of her body. She knew it would be hard, but she knew it wouldn't be impossible; she just needed to know how.

Gripping her jeans tightly she thought about Spectre; she couldn't believe that he didn't believe. He thought she was crazy that it was all in her head. Maria couldn't even understand that a guardian of all people would not believe her story. That itself would have been okay but then the guardian had witnessed one of her possessed bloodbaths. It was the look he gave her that really rocked her core. When he looked at her, she almost didn't see Spectre at all, all she could see was Shadow. It was like her own best friend was looking at her as if she was deranged murderer, and that even her own best friend was gone.

Mephiles and the Grandmaster had done such a wonderful job ruining her life; if it was their intention to traumatize and isolate her from everything and everyone, then they succeeded. She was alone and she was indeed traumatized.

Maria then thought of something.

If Mephiles was a demon, and he was trapped inside her body, did that mean maybe she could get him out herself?

Mephiles had mentioned that he would not leave Maria's body until he was strong enough to escape. But if Maria were to force him out before this was done, Mephiles would be too weak to do anything and Maria would be able to seal him somewhere.

All Maria would have to do was figure out how she could cast the demon out of her. She then remembered that she saw some voodoo shop near the outskirts of town. Maybe she could go there and see how it could be done.

Maria pulled herself up and rushed out the door.

Walking through the heavy rain, she felt hope, hope that she could finally end this and she would finally be free of Mephiles' influence forever.

The walk to the outskirts of town was almost an hour and a half, but she didn't care she would walk to the other side of the world if that meant relief.

The outskirts of town, was rather shady place to be. Gangs, drug lords and hookers were notorious for frequenting this part of the area; but the girl would not let them intimidate her, she would go to the store that she needed to get to and that would be that.

Surprisingly, nobody bother the girl at all. Whenever she seemed to walk by them, they immediately moved out of the way with blank stares on their faces.

As the tiny girl passed, she couldn't help but smirk slightly; this would one of the very few things she would miss about Mephiles controlling her and that said a lot.

Finally, she saw the store and immediately walked inside. The smell of incense burned around her and the walls were hung with roots, spices and other interesting little things.

"How can I help you today?" Said the woman behind the counter, with a thick Jamaican accent.

"I was looking for something that could help me drive out a demon." Maria honestly felt stupid for saying this, but no matter how idiotic she sounded, she was telling the God honest truth.

The woman walked came from behind the counter and examined the girl from head to toe.

"You have a demon inside, a powerful one to be exact." The woman said, quietly.

Maria felt the fire sensation within in her but to her surprise, she didn't black out and she didn't lose control.

"The sensation it's going on but he hasn't taken control. Why?" Maria asked, innocently.

"I've performed a ritual on this place, a ritual where evil demons cannot take control. Here this demon is not strong enough to counter it."

"That means Mephiles' power is not strong enough to break free. Without me, he won't be able to have a proper form or power."

The woman smiled but then frowned.

"Listen to me darling, you have a chance to drive the demon out, but you'll have to do it quickly. I do know a way."

The woman walked to the back shelf and handed Maria what looked like a dagger with an onyx handle, and a small jar.

"This dagger is been charmed by spells and coated with herbs; slice the side of your stomach, just enough to drive the demon out of you. When you manage to drive the demon out, seal it in this jar, I made sure this jar has nothing but my strongest spells and charms, and I believe that nothing will be able to break through it. When the deed is done, hide the jar in a place where nobody will find it, you can't risk that demon escaping ever again."

"What if Mephiles manages to possess me before I can do this?" Maria asked.

The woman handed her a small vial.

"This elixor should subdue the demon, so you can drive him out, but it will only last for a few hours so drink it now."

Maria downed the elixor and immediately felt the fire sensation die away.

"How much do I owe you?" Maria asked.

"Don't worry about it, just hurry and get yourself home, that elixor will wear off within a few hours, so hurry and perform the ritual while you still can."

"Thank you!" Maria cried. running out the door.

The girl ran back to the hotel as fast as she could, determined to end this one way or another.

**I really don't know much about voodoo or that stuff so I'm sorry if it seemed a little generic and the typical stuff you would see in movies, but I felt it would be the only way that Maria might be able to drive Mephiles away. Well next chapter is the last one Mephiles is going to appear and then one last chapter after that, and then the epilogue. So let me know what you thought of this chapter through a review or a PM. DUECES!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Well we have now reached the climax of the story. Will Maria successfully drive Mephiles out of her? If she does what will happen when Legion comes after her again. Only this chapter will tell. ENJOY! (laughs manically)**

**I don't own anything**

* * *

Maria had finally managed to get back to the hotel. The thought of sweet release had given her the will to run as fast as she could. She would soon be rid of Mephiles forever; she would be able to think for herself again.

It wasn't very long until she the hotel come into her view. Maria breathed a huge side of relief as she made her final sprint to the staircase and up the stairs. Her heart would not stop pounding; it almost felt like it was going to rip from her chest at any given time. But she didn't care; all she cared was getting back to her room before the elixor wore off.

Finally Maria came to her door and unlocked it quickly; rushing inside, she slammed the door and placed the jar on the ground.

"This is it, I'll finally be free from Mephiles' control once and for all.

Walking into the bathroom, she stared into the mirror; she lifted up her shirt, deciding where she would make the cut. As she pondered, she decided to make the cut on the bottom left side of her stomach.

Raising the knife into the air she couldn't help but think.

"You wanted freedom, didn't you? So let me give it to you."

She was about to lower the knife when she felt her arm freeze into the air.

Maria glowered in anger, this couldn't be happening, not now.

She braced herself once again and was ready to make the cut. Only her arm remained frozen, refusing to move.

"The elixor must be starting to wear off! ARGH!"

Maria attempted to force her hand to move, but she found her arm being pulled backwards and smashing itself into the mirror, shattering the glasses into millions of pieces.

Blood oozed from her arm and there was immense pain but the girl knew what must have been going on. Mephiles was controlling her, but only half her body, she still had a chance to end this. She would have to the knife with her free hand.

Maria attempted to grabbed the knife on the floor but Mephiles using her other hand, grabbed her by the hair and proceeded to bash her head against the wall.

Maria tried to use her other hand to break free from Mephiles. It had taken some struggling but she managed to grab her hand and twisted it back as far as it could go. Maria thought she could hear Mephiles screaming in pain but she wasn't entirely sure nor did she care.

Maria then made another to reach for the dagger when felt the possessed half of her self drag her away from the bathroom and out towards the door.

She struggled and tried to put dead weight against the demon.

"Why are you still fighting me?! You know it's over!" Maria demanded.

"You brought me back here! You were the one who wanted to remember! I've managed to keep you safe from the legionnaires for as long as I did. Now you want to end my existence?!" Mephiles snarled.

"That may be true, but you lied Mephiles." "You said that you only wanted to used the emerald to view what was going on the world of the living. You never said that you were going to use me as a vessel. You may have cared about me, but the way you cared about me was not true and sincere." Maria stated, calmly.

"You ungrateful bitch!" Mephiles snarled.

"Now you trying to appear as the victim because you know that you need me. You are not strong enough to escape, so you want to fight this out for as long as you can."

"NO! I will not lose!" Mephiles screamed. He attempted to continue dragging her body towards the body. Only Maria kept her foot planted firmly into the ground.

"No Mephiles! Not this time!" With a newfound strength, Maria pulled herself back toward the bathroom.

She could see the dagger lying on the ground. She could feel her possessed hand try to grab her free hand as she attempted to reach for the dagger; but Maria would not give in, she would fall down this time. After a large amount of struggling, Maria successfully grabbed it.

She lifted up her shirt and very quickly made the incision against her side.

Almost instantly, a black ooze spilled from the wound and traveled onto the ground.

"So this is your true form? Nothing but black slime.

The puddle quickly attempted to make an escape outside of the hotel room, but Maria grabbed the jar and began to scoop up inside.

"So you've have rid yourself of me, but let me ask you one question. Are you satisfied?" Mephiles demanded.

"Very much so." Maria said, with a small smile on her face.

"You may have stopped me, but it's the end of the line for you; the Grandmaster must know by now that I'm no longer in your body. His legion will more than likely catch up with you within the next couple of hours. You'll be within their custody very soon.

Maria remained smiling, but she knew deep in her heart he was right.

"Answer me one last question." Maria ordered, as she got the last of the puddle within the jar. "What happened to Shadow?"

"The military found his escape pod, he was inside unconscious. The military immediately transported him to prison island; there he was put into a cryogenic sleep, seeing as they had no idea how to kill him.

Maria felt her heart crack, she honestly had hoped that Shadow was off somewhere and they would have met by chance.

"Goodbye Maria; maybe someday you and I will meet again. Who knows, maybe Shadow and I might meet sometime in the future. Wouldn't that be interesting?" The demon laughed manically as Maria clamped the top of the jar on. It was over, it was all over.

Maria breathed deeply as she stared at the jar. Mephiles was finally gone, she could feel and think for herself again. Only that wouldn't matter anymore, the legion was going to corner her very soon; and she did not have the strength to fight back. But before the legion came for her, there was something she wanted to do.

3 hours later

Maria was hiding in the cargo on the ship that was heading to Prison Island. She needed to see her best friend one last time, she needed to see his face, she wanted to get some things off her chest before it was too late.

It wasn't very long until she felt the ship come to a stop. She peeked from her hiding place to see if the soldiers were gone. When she could see that they were, she quickly crept from the ship and made her way inside the large military building.

Walking down the isolated halls, she looked for a map that would lead her to Shadow. She then a large map that showed all the security levels and saw on the lowest level that was where Project Shadow was located.

Making her way to the elevator she traveled to the lowest level. When the elevator stopped, she climbed out and walked down several more corridors until she saw the chamber.

She slowly walked inside when she him. The black hedgehog was encased inside the cryogenic chamber; his eyes were closed and his eyes face expressionless.

"Hi Shadow. Sorry I haven't come to visit you." She smiled, sadly.

Naturally Shadow didn't respond.

"I know you probably can't hear me, but I like to think that you can."

No response.

"Listen Shadow, I know the truth; I know that Grandfather struck a deal with those Black Arms, but I know it wasn't your fault. Don't ever blame yourself for that."

No response.

"I've made so many mistakes. I brought something back with me that was dangerous, just so I didn't forget about you. I should've known it was to good to be true. It's was all my fault that blood was spilled. I wish I could take that all back.

No response.

"I'm afraid I don't I have much time left; the legion will be here for me soon, but there's so much I want to tell you. There's so much to say, if only time would stop just for this."

Maria could feel hot tears starting to stream down her face.

"Listen Shadow, it's too late for me, but it's not too late for you. You still have a chance; you still the opportunity to do what you were destined to do; to bring peace and happiness to all who live here. No matter what happens, always keep your promise. Promise that your heart will always remain good. Never give into despair and stay ground! PLEASE SHADOW PLEASE, DON'T BECOME LIKE ME!" Maria was now sobbing as she banged her fists against the glass.

"SHADOW PROMISE, THAT YOU WILL BE GOOD! NEVER GIVE UP NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! YOU ALWAYS WERE STRONG; BUT NOW I NEED YOU TO BE STRONGER!"

Maria looked up at the hedgehog, praying that he had heard her.

The sound of footsteps quickly approached. Maria turned around to see Kommissar and two soldiers behind her.

"Time to go, Maria." She ordered.

"Can I say goodbye to him?" Maria asked, quietly.

Kommissar glared but then sighed deeply.

"You have two more minutes, we'll be outside." The soldiers left the room.

Maria stared at the chamber for the longest time. Tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't believe everything had to go wrong; but no matter what were to happen, she would make sure Shadow would stay strong; just like there final separation.

Maria remember when she had been harpooned in the chest; she knew she was going to die, but she refused to let the legion take Shadow away, she would save him no matter what.

She crawled down the halls of the ARK determined to find him. She was losing to much blood, but she refused to die until she knew Shadow would be safe.

After searching for some time, she found Shadow in the room that they had spent most of their time in. Maria crawled inside hoping Shadow wouldn't see her. She saw there was one escape pod the legion had failed to destroy. She would send Shadow to the safety of the planet. He was standing in the right spot. Making her way to the controls she pressed a few buttons and then the pod encased Shadow.

Shadow startled turned around to see her barely standing at the controls. Blood was everywhere.

The black hedgehog banged on the glass; crying, screaming, and begging her to come with him. But she couldn't, not this time.

"Shadow, I beg of you... Please do it for me, for a better future... For all of the people who live on that planet, give them the chance to be happy. Let them live for their dreams... Shadow I know you can do it, that's the reason why you were brought into this world..."

Maria looked at Shadow one last time; there was still hope for him, she would make sure of it. She pulled the lever.

"Sayonara Shadow the Hedgehog."

"MARIA!" Shadow screamed, as the capsule ejected, speeding towards the Earth.

Maria smiled one last time before she fell to the ground. Her chest rose and fell one last time, and then she died.

Maria closed her eyes as she remembered. Breathing deeply, she slowly made her way to the exit turning one last time.

"Sayonara Shadow the Hedgehog." She smiled through her tears.

Then she walked out of the room not knowing where her life was going to lead to her, but she hoped even in his cryogenic sleep, that Shadow had heard everything she said.

**That's the end. Mephiles is defeated and Maria's back in the Dark Legion's custody. The conclusion is almost upon us so stay tuned.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Well this is the last chapter then we have the epilogue. I can't believe this story it's final stretch after seven months. My time goes by fast.**

**Nothing really is going to happen much here but I'm finally going to reveal the Grandmaster's identity. **

**With not much left to say let's begin**

**I still own nothing.**

* * *

Maria had lost track as to how long she had been sitting in the prison cell; 3 maybe 4 hours, she really had kept track of time.

When she had gotten back to the Dark Legion's Headquarters, she was surprised that they had taken her to the infirmary and cleaned up any of the wounds that had been inflicted on her. Then they let her take a nice hot shower to clean herself up, even giving some clean clothes. Minded they were a roughed up looking sweatshirt and pants, but they were clean. And if that wasn't enough, they even gave her food; not just random prison slop either. They actually gave her real food; if you could call a ham and turkey sandwich real food that is.

Only after that the supposed VIP treatment was over when the soldiers dragged her to their holding cells and threw her inside. Since then she had been alone with nothing but her thoughts.

The only good thing that Maria felt that was going for her was the fact that Mephiles was gone; the demon had been driven out of her body and she could think for herself again.

But was that even a good thing at all? Even though Mephiles was no longer a threat to her, she wasn't able to run anymore; the legion had finally caught up to her at Prison Island and was back in their custody. The Grandmaster was right; she had been in a no win situation the entire time. She was only able to escape from one evil and was forced to submit to the other. It didn't matter anyway; because still couldn't decide which of the evils was still worse; she had been losing something with each and each meant a whole lot to lose.

Maria had to wonder how Mephiles and the Grandmaster discovered the truth about Shadow in the first place. Did they see all of it through there powers? Did the Grandmaster associate with her Grandfather so he could find out about anything that could benefit him in the long run? Did Mephiles gain more knowledge as his power increased within her? Even with all these questions burning inside her, Maria knew most of these questions were never going to be answered; or at least the way she wanted them to.

If Maria was looking for someone to blame throughout this entire thing; she would have no choice but to blame her Grandfather. He was that had come into contact with the Black Arms. He willing accepted the deal without even thinking about the future consequences; all of his choices had gotten everyone killed, with Shadow being the one who had to take the fall; and in Maria's opinion, she didn't think that was fair. Her best friend was created so she could be cured and she never realized it; he had to suffer so much as a guinea pig for a cure and more than likely a military weapon, and she never even realized it. He was her everything and he had to take the fall for her Grandfather's sins. She would never be able to forgive him, not this time.

The girl looked out the bars of her cell; she knew it was only a matter of time before she would be brought before the Grandmaster. Soon there would no place else to run. She debated if when the guards came, she would make another break for it. Only this time she wouldn't be as lucky; not with Mephiles gone and her body more than likely frail again. Nope this time it was the end of the road.

She lay on the cot and breathed; it was bound to happen that she would have to confront the Grandmaster eventually. And with these supernatural powers that he had, she would have no chance of escaping, even if she tried.

Maria was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard a loud banging against the bars of he cell.

"Get up! The Grandmaster demands to see you!" The soldier at the cell, demanded.

Maria, not wanting to fight anymore, got up from her cot and waited as the soldier opened the cell door.

"Put your hands behind your back." The soldier ordered.

The girl did as she was told as the soldier came behind her and tightly placed handcuffs against her wrists; making sure she wouldn't run away this time.

The second soldier ordered her to walk as the first soldier remained behind her.

The walk along the holding compound seemed to last for an eternity; it was like she was walking off towards death, and agonizing fate was making the journey seem longer than it really felt it should have been. There were no soldiers nearby; making Maria feel more and more isolated, a thought she did not like at all.

She finally reached the main headquarters and was forced to walk inside. Even in the main area, there almost no soldiers around; Maria could feel her heart pounding, almost convinced she really was walking into the darkest pits of hell; escorted by the minions of Satan himself.

Turning some more corridors, she found herself being led down a long dark hallway; almost no light seemed to shine through, and a strange force seemed to bounce along the halls; giving the girl a headache. It had to have been influence from the Grandmaster's power.

Maria stopped to collect her bearings when she felt of the soldiers roughly jab her in the ribs.

"Keep walking!" He ordered.

She was only forced to comply.

After some more walking they came to the end of hallway that ended with two large iron doors. Maria knew the that behind those doors, the Grandmaster was on the other side, waiting for her.

The first soldier knocked on the doors.

"My lord, we have brought the human to you, just like you requested."

"Send her in." The Grandmaster's voice came from the other side.

The first soldier opened the door just enough to send Maria inside.

"Get in there!" The soldier ordered, as her shoved her inside.

Maria turned around to watch as the doors shut, the sound echoing all around her, she was trapped.

Maria stared numbly at the door for about 30 seconds until she turned her head to the back center of the dark room.

Sitting on the black throne, was the Grandmaster himself. The upper half of his face was completely hidden by a mask made of purest gold. On the forehead of the mask, was a rather large blood red ruby. Any archeologist or art collector would have loved to get their hands on it.

Adorned along the Grandmaster's body, was the finest armor that the most regal Egyptian Pharaoh would wear, that again was made from the finest gold and silks.

Maria couldn't help but admit that she was awe taken by his grand appearance.

However when she looked closer, she could see that the Grandmaster's long blood red dreadlocks, seemed to move as if they had a life of their own. The girl was almost convinced that they might have even been snakes.

From her place on the ground, Maria continued to stare wide eyed.

"At last, we finally meet, face to face." The Grandmaster said being the first to the break the silence.

"The feelings not mutual." Maria spat, bitterly.

The Grandmaster laughed.

"So you're still mad at me, are you?" He asked.

Maria didn't even answer.

She suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through her body; causing her to scream.

"You're in my territory now; so when I ask you a question, you will answer me!"

"Okay! Okay!" Maria whimpered, wanting the pain to end.

The Grandmaster lowered his arm and the pain died a away.

Maria continued to lay on the ground as she continued to catch her breath; wanting more than everything to escape the dark room she was in.

Suddenly she felt the handcuffs slide from her wrists and they were lying next to her on the ground.

Maria sat up and looked back towards the door; it seemed so easy to make a run for it now, but it seemed to good to be true. If she tried to run, the Grandmaster would use his powers to freeze her, she wasn't going anywhere.

She looked back at the Grandmaster.

"You know you won't get out the door, child. So don't even try."

"I won't." Maria sighed.

"That's what I thought."

"Why did you even bring me here in the first place!" Maria demanded.

"I only wanted to show you my sympathy." The Grandmaster replied, sweetly.

Maria found herself laughing.

"Sympathy! Really?!"

"I read your mind before I had them bring you to me; it looks like you know everything by now."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Maria lied.

"You know why Shadow was created and you know very well why he took the fall."

Maria lowered her head.

"Y-Yeah." She said, quietly.

"Your Grandfather was foolish; he never thought of the consequences when he struck that bargain with Black Doom. He never thought about all the suffering you and Shadow were forced to endure together. You could even go along to say that your Grandfather was almost partially responsible for you making that deal with Mephiles and all that blood you were forced to spill."

"You're...right." Maria said, softly.

"Everyone on Earth turned against you; the Guardians abandoned you in your time of need, believing you to be a murderer"

"They did." Maria gasped.

"You wanted them all to have a peaceful and happy life, and they all turned on you."

"But that doesn't explain you wanted to hunt Shadow down like an animal!" Maria protested.

"Is Shadow truly your friend?" The Grandmaster asked.

"What?"

"Can you honestly say: Shadow will always remain loyal to you?"

"I don't understand..."

"After the ARK incident, Gerald went insane; he reprogrammed Shadow to bring nothing but destruction, he will forget all about you, wanting nothing but revenge."

"He can't Shadow has..."

"I read his mind from his cryogenic sleep; you are no longer a though of his, all he thinks about is blood."

Maria though she could hear the sound of breaking glass; only that must have been the sound of her heart breaking. He didn't hear her, he betrayed her; when Maria saw the look that Spectre had given her, that had to have been the sign that Shadow was gone.

Maria felt a cold glare form across her face.

"My friendship with Shadow...IT WAS ALL FOR FUCKING NOTHING!" She snarled.

The Grandmaster held his arms out.

"Come here, child." He called to her, gently.

Maria was strongly tempted to him to go fuck himself, but the need to be comforted was so much stronger.

Defeated, Maria walked up to the Grandmaster. The echidna took her into his arm; cradling her as if she was a small child.

"You poor exhausted child, you've been abandoned by everyone that you thought was close to you. Shadow, your Grandfather, even the people on the ARK never care for you. They'll never care for you the way I do." The Grandmaster said, stroking her hair.

Maria just stared.

"I can protect you, child; maybe even better than Shadow ever could. I would never lie to you; did I even lie to you at all?" The Grandmaster asked.

"No..." Maria, answered in a very tiny voice.

"I can save you; I can save you from your pain and suffering...if you submit yourself to the Dark Legion."

"I will...I'll do anything!" Maria answered, eagerly.

The Grandmaster smiled sweetly at her.

"Believe me child. You are making the right choice."

**The this chapter was fucked up beyond anything else. And I loved every single moment of it. Well next chapter is the epilogue. By the way I have a poll going on right now so head on over to my Profile page to check it out. DUECES!**


End file.
